With 6,000 miles of streams and more than 1,300 lakes and reservoirs, the state is home to many unique fish species.
Here are some of the Centennial State's most interesting fish species:
Bonytail (Gila elegans)
According to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, bonytail is the rarest of the native fish of the Colorado River. With large fins, a streamlined body, and gray or olive-covered backs, silver sides, and white bellies, bonytail are thought to have evolved three to five million years ago.
The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service also explains that threats to bonytail include streamflow regulation, habitat modification, competition with and predation by non-native species, and hybridization. Recovery efforts, including stocking, are underway at multiple locations in the upper and lower Colorado River basins.
Colorado Pikeminnow (Ptychocheilus lucius)
The Colorado pikeminnow used to be the only native predator of the Colorado River's upper basin, even though it lacks jaw teeth, according to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. The species is native to the Colorado River basin, and is the largest minnow native to North America. Colorado River Recovery writes that the fish can grow to almost six feet long, weigh 80 pounds, and live as long as 40 years.
According to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, the Colorado pikeminnow became endangered because large dams and human water use altered river flows and restricted the fish's movement. The species has been reintroduced into the San Juan River though stocking.
Razorback Sucker (Xyrauchen texanus)
Native to the warm-water portions of the Colorado River basin, razorback suckers can grow to more than three feet and have a "unique, bony, razor-like keel" above the head.
According to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, dam construction in the basin "reduced peak flows, changed temperature regimes, created reservoirs, and disconnected floodplains from the mainstream rivers." These changes to the environment allowed nonnative fish to thrive, causing the population of razorback sucker to dwindle. There have been razorback sucker stocking programs implemented throughout the Colorado River basin.
Humpback Chub (Gila cypha)
The humpback chub is another fish species native to the Colorado River, and it's found in warm-water canyons of the Colorado River basin. After large dams and human water use changed the river flow, the humpback chub was protected under the Endangered Species Act in 1973.
According to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, efforts to conserve the humpback chub include managing river flows, providing passage around dams, and removing non-native predators.
Channel Catfish (Ictalurus punctatus)
Easily identifiable by their whiskers, forked tail, and sporadic black spotting, channel catfish are native to eastern Colorado and have been stocked in warmer rivers and lakes throughout the state, according to Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW). Catfish larger than 30 pounds have been caught in Colorado.
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5 rare and unique fish species in Colorado - The Denver Gazette
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