ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT PROFILE

PROTECTION STATUS: Endangered

YEAR PLACED ON LIST: 2005

CRITICAL HABITAT: 25,600 acres on 160.3 river miles designated in 2005

RECOVERY PLAN: None

RANGE: Upper Gila River basin in Arizona, New Mexico, and adjacent Sonora, Mexico

THREATS: Predation by and competition with nonnative fish and bullfrog species as well as crayfish; disease; and habitat destruction and fragmentation due to water diversion, dredging, recreation, roads, and livestock grazing

POPULATION TREND: The Gila chub has been extirpated or much reduced in numbers within the majority of its historical range. According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, in 2002, approximately 85 to 90 percent of Gila chub habitat had been degraded or destroyed. According to NatureServe, the long-term population trend is “large decline” (75 to 90 percent).