Mohave tui chub

The Mohave tui chub (Gila bicolor mohavensis) is in the minnow family and can reach over 10 inches in length. The Mohave tui chub was listed as an endangered species in 1970 by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The Mohave tui chub is the only fish native to the Mojave River basin in California. The arroyo chub (Gila orcutti) was introduced into the Mojave River system in the 1930s. This exotic chub successfully hybridized with the Mohave tui chub, and by 1970 the latter fish species was believed to have been eliminated by this process of introgression. A small population of genetically pure Mohave tui chub was found at a small pond (6 feet deep and 9 feet in diameter) at Soda Springs on the western bank of the dry Soda Lake (FWS 1984).

Since its rediscovery, populations have been successfully introduced to constructed ponds at Soda Lake, Camp Cady, and China Lake Naval Air Weapons Station. The total estimated population at these four areas is between 10,000 and 20,000 fish (Mohave tui chub recovery team meeting, November 1996). The Mohave tui chub is morphologically similar to the Owens tui chub (G. b. Snyderi) and the Lahontan tui chub (G. b. obesa) (FWS 1984). A genetic study, completed in September 1997, found that the Mohave tui chub is a distinct subspecies (May et al. 1997).