Inland Fishes of California Revise d and Expanded PETER B. MO YL E Illustrations by Chris Ma ri van Dyck and Joe Tome ller i NIVERS ITyor ALfFORNJA PRESS Ikrkd cr I.", ..\ n~d e ' Lon don Universit }, 0 Ca lifornia Press Herkdey and Los Angeles, Ca lifornia Uni ve rsity of alifornia Press, Ltd. Lundun, England ~ 2002 by the Regents of the Unive rsi ty of Ca lifornia Library of Cungress ataloging-in -Publ ica tion Data j\·[oyk, Pen: r B. Inland fis hes of California / Peter B. Moyle ; illustrations by Chris Mari van D)'ck and Joe Tomell eri.- Rev. and expanded. p. cm. In lu de> bibl iographical refe rences (p. ). ISBN 0- 20-2.2754 -'1 (cl ot h: alk. papa) I. rreshw:ltcr lishes-Cali(ornia. I. Title. QL62S C2 M6H 2002 597 .17/i'097Q4-dc21 20010 27680 1\!UlIl.Ifaclu rcd in Canacla II 10 Q9 00 07 06 0 04 03 02 10 ' 1\ 7 b '; -\ 3 2 1 Th paper u!)ed in thi> public.ltiu(] 111l'd., the minimum requirements "fA SI / i': ISO Z39.4H-1992 (R 199;) ( Pmlllllh'/l e ofPa pcr) . e Special Thanks The illustrations for this book were made possible by gra nts from the following : California-Nevada Chapter, American Fi she ries Soc iety Western Di vision, Am erican Fi she ries Society California Department of Fish and Game Giles W. and El ise G. Mead Foundation We appreciate the generous funding support toward the publication of this book by the United Sta tes Environme ntal Protection Agency, Region IX, San Francisco Contents Pre(acc ix Salmon and Trout, Salmonidae 242 Ackl10 11'ledgl11 el1ts Xlll Silversides, Atherinopsidae 307 COlll'er,<iol1 ['actors xv Killifishes, Fundulid ae 313 Livebe(]rers, Poeciliid cl e 317 Dis tribution Pattern s Pupfishes, Cyprinodonlidae 326 Ecology 22 Sticklebacks, Ga sterosteidae 338 Change 48 Sculpin s, Cottidae 345 A Conservation Strategy 68 Color plates follow page 352 IJcntification 79 Striped Basses, Moronidac 364 Key to the In/a nd Fishes of California 82 Sunfishes, Centrarch idae 376 Perch es, Percidae 409 Lampreys, Petromyzontidae 95 Cichlid s, Cichl ida e 414 Sturgeons, Acipenseridae 106 Surfperches, Embiotocidae 424 Her rings, Clupeidae 114 Gobies, Gobiidae 430 Minnows, Cyprinidae 121 Mullets, MugilidJ C 44 1 Suckers, Catostomidae 179 Rig hteye Flou nders, Pleul'Onectidae 444 Bullhead Catfish es, Ictaluridae 208 Pikes, Esocidae 222 References 447 Smelts,Osmeridae 226 Index 489 Preface This book is the fi rst revision of the one I boldly began writ­ Common name, Scientific l1am e ing in 1972, when I had lived in California for just two ye ars . Identification Writing it was my way of getting to know a fish fauna that Taxonomy was a mix.ture of familiar and unfamiliar elements. The fa­ Names miliar parts were introduced fishes, most of them native to Distribution the eastern part of this country, where I had received train ­ Life history ing as a fish biologist. The unfamiliar parts were native Habitat fishes, most of them occurring only in California. The first Nonbreeding behavior edition was published in 1976, and its principal message was Feeding habits th at we kn ew astonishingly little about many of the fi shes, Age and growth especially native fishes. Since that time, I have been collect­ Reproduction ing information to fill in knowledge gaps and to correct er­ Early life history rors in the first edition. The job is far from finished, but, Status given the precarious state of the native fi shes, I thought it Rating important to summarize once again what we know about Abundance them. I sometimes wonder if complete accounts of the sys­ Management tematics and natural history of many native fishes can be Referen ces completed before the y go extinct. Species accounts for sev­ eral fishes are already obituaries, and others may become so Identification This is not a complete species description in the near futme. I can only hope that the information pro­ but a compilation of features useful for scpcnating the vided in this book will help to reduce the loss of our native species from other California fi shes. Te rminolo~w is defi ned fishes. At the same time, managing th e altered aquatic in the introduction to the key. ecosystems of California requires knowledge of the alien Taxonomy This section is especially important for species fi shes that now dominate many of them, including favorite for which there is controversy or uncertainty about system­ sport fishes. The ad aptations of alien fishes to the Califor­ atics or that have a confusing taxonomic histor y. It is used nia environment and th eir impact on native fishes is there­ to discuss advances in our understanding of the sys tematics Core also a major theme. of the species . Minor questions of name changes or long­ The species accounts are the most important part of this settled taxonomic qu es tions are usually mentioned in the book. They are preceded by chapters providing overviews of Names section of each species account. th e di stribll tion , ecology, and conservation of th e fi shes, fol­ lowe d by n key to Illake identification easier. Each species ac ­ Names The common and scientific names used here, wi th cou nt is organized as follows : a few exceptions, are from the American Fish eri es " ,)( i et ~" s IX BASE MAP of Califomla with STATUS SYMBOLS zoogeographic province li nes NATIVE ALIEN ~-l ~ STATUS extincU A extirpated @ extirpated OISTRIBUTION -EJ SYMBOL o localized 0 range: _ present small, I threatened! l===::J former --" B highly localized, ~. endangered c::::J absent stable or @ declinmg \ J ~ special concern C limited EJ distribution @ ""hwo'·'A watch list widespread uSYMBOL~,~ 0 stable @) ~ amphidromous stable or E aggressive estuarine "­ increasing invader ~anadromous {t @ Figure 1. Symbols used on di stribution maps to indicate distribution, sta tus, and life style of each fish species, 1990 List ofCommon and Scientific Names ofFishes from the I. Native species United States and Canada, The origins of the scie ntific A. Extinct/extirpated, The species is gone from Califor­ names come from many sources, but most frequently from nia (extirpated) or gone from the planet (g loball y ex tinct). Jordan and Evermann (J 896). B. Threatened or endangered. The species is likely tn be­ come extinct or ex tirpated in the near future «25 yea rs) un­ Distribution This section describes th e distribution of each less steps are taken to save it. An endangered species is on a species, fo cusing on California. The distribution maps pro­ more rapid path to extinction than a threat'ne I 'pecies, vided are designed only to give a general idea of the distri­ Most of these species are form ally listed by either the state bution of l'ach species, not site-specific information (Fig, 1). or the federal government; some are not (but probably Larger distribution maps for each species are available should be), The formal status of each threatened species is through the Information Center for the Environment at the given in the account. University of California, Davis (http://ice.ucdavis,edu). C. Special concern. The species is in decline or has aver), Even these maps should be regarded as snapshots of the limited distribution, so special malluge ment is needed to present distribution of each species, because distributions keep it from becoming threatened or endangered. are changing constantly, as the lan dscape changes under hu­ D, Watch list. The species appears to be declining but is man influence, native species decline and introduced not yet in serious trouble. Its popuiJlions must be moni­ species expand, tored to see if special protective action is necessary. E. Stable or increasi ng. The species is abundant or in­ Life history Iv[ uch of the information on the habits of Cali­ creasing in population. fornia fishes is hidden in the "gray literature" of unpublished theses and reports, I have tried to be as comprehensive as II. Alien species possible, but no doubt I have overlooked some of these im­ A. Extirpated in California. The species was once es tab­ portant sources of information , (If you are aware of a docu­ lished but the introduction failed. These species are men ­ ment I have missed cOlltaining useful tidbits, please send me tioned only in t~l mily accounts. a copy, Maybe [ can use the information in the next edition !) B. Small, highly localized populations. The species is es­ [jee history in formation that is not referenced is based on tablished in just a handful of 10 al ities an is stable or de­ unpublished J ata or observations of my own, clining in numbers. C. Localized likely to become more widesprea d or alread y Status In this s ti OIl, [ rate th e status of each species in the wi desp read but not abundant in most areas. Allern.ltdy, it stale dnJ th n disc uss abundance tTends and management may be fairl y co mmon but is declining. The speci s is usu­ needs. ,t, rating syslem is as follows: ally J recent introduction and is just starting to exp<md ib x PR EFAC E I'," ,gl! , H it is a long-establis hed species th::r t is only region­ The word lake in this bo ok is reserved fo r true lakes ;lnd all) ~ b uJ1 d a nl. is not used to refer to reservoirs, DO matter haL the agen­ O. Widesp re ad an stable. The species is widely distrib­ cies who build re ervoirs cal l them.