Mojave National Preserve - Fish

An unexpected resident of Mojave National Preserve, the Mojave tui chub ( Gila bicolor mohavensis ) was once found throughout the Mojave River from its headwaters at the base of the San Bernadino Mountains to its terminus at Soda Dry Lake. It is only at Lake Tuendae on the western shore of Soda Dry Lake, along with two locations outside of the preserve (Camp Cady Wildlife Area and China Lake Naval Air Weapons Station) that the Mojave tui chub may be found today. A bright brassy-brown to dark olive fish with a bluish-white to silver belly, it may grow up to nine inches long, averaging four to six inches. Mojave tui chubs feed on insect larvae, plankton, and detritus and prefer deep pools and sloughs, habitat that has nearly disappeared from the Mojave River. Damming of headwaters and diversion of water from the river prompted changes that favored non-native competitor and preditor fish. In addition, the Mojave tui chub was the only member of the minnow family (Cyprinidae) found in the Mojave River until the illegal introduction of the arroyo chub ( Gila orcutti ) into the river as a baitfish in the 1930s. The arroyo chub competed with the Mojave tui chub but also hybridized with it, threatening the existance of the native fish as a distinct subspecies. The Mojave tui chub was listed as an endangered species by the US Fish & Wildlife Service in 1970 and by the State of California in 1971. The populations at Lake Tuendae and elsewhere are protected in the hope that the Mojave tui chub may one day be re-released into the Mojave River. Lake Tuendae, part of the California Desert Studies Center at Zzyzx, is also home to the Sarasota Springs pupfish ( Cyprinodon nevadensis nevadenisis ), the only other species of fish found within the preserve. The Sarasota Springs pupfish was introduced to the site in 1955.