A Camouflaged Plains Killifish Hiding in Plain Sight
Peppered chub of the Canadian River, New Mexico
Egg-guarding Fathead Minnow
Rio Grande Silvery Minnow Swimming Free
fathead minnow (Pimephales promelas)
Gila trout from Mora National Fish Hatchery
Rio Grande silvery minnow release
Fishes of the Pecos River
Red Shiner (Cyprinella lutrensis)
Pecos Larval Fishes
#WonderWednesday Have you ever come across an egg and wondered what it will be when it hatches? We wonder that, too! Our biologists are working on a larval fish study this summer out on the Pecos River. They wonder what fish are laying eggs during large reservoir releases. The egg and larval stage can be a challenging time to identify a fish to its species. One biologist brought in a few eggs to hatch and raise so they can watch them develop in one of our glass aquariums. This group of young fish swimming around in the video were brought in as eggs at the same time. They are already separating out in the tank; some are staying low in the tank and others are hanging out near the surface of the water. What other differences can you see in these little fish?
Video Credit: Angela Palacios/USFWS (no sound)
Captive Roundnose Minnow (Dionda episcopa)
#FishFriday This Fish Friday comes from our office. We were delighted to find a 2nd generation of Roundnose Minnows. These two little ones were likely hatched just as many in our office were shifting to telework.
This video is of the captive Roundnose Minnow (Dionda episcopa) swimming in our front office aquarium. The adult minnows were collected during a field study in 2015 near Santa Rosa, New Mexico. These fish are native to New Mexico. There is no sound.
Video Credit: Angela Palacios/USFWS
Rio Grande Silvery Minnow
Biologists, Thomas Archdeacon and Lyle Thomas, recently VIE tagged these endangered Rio Grande Silvery Minnow (RGSM). VIE stands for visible implant elastomer and is routinely used to tag RGSM destined for the Rio Grande. Field Biologists use the tags to determine if the RGSM found during monitoring are hatchery or wild spawned fish. The VIE comes in different colors and helps distinguish the source hatchery and year the RGSM were spawned.
These recently tagged RGSM are recovering nicely and showing off their florescent orange tags.
USFWS Fisheries, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Southwest Region
Video credit: Angela Palacios/USFWS
Gila Trout
Fish Biologist, Andy Dean, and Trevor Luna (Mora National Fish Hatchery) tag team to deliver 500 Gila Trout from the Mora National Fish Hatchery to Arizona. Arizona Department of Game and Fish, Arizona Ecological Services Field Office, and volunteers will be standing by to help hike these fish into West Fork Oak Creek. These fish will help support a native trout recreational fishery. #NativeTrout, #GilaTrout, #WeMakeFishingBetter, #CatchTheFun
Video Credit: Angela Palacios/USFWS
A Young Longnose Gar
We were thankful for the opportunity to see this little Longnose Gar during our fish community monitoring on the Pecos River. We were sure it was thankful to be set free to live another day. Happy Thanksgiving!
On the Hunt for RGSM
New Mexico FWCO crew riding along the dry river bed of the Rio Grande. The crew will stop at every isolated pool and collect some water quality data and seine each pool searching for the endangered Rio Grande Silvery Minnow. #FacingExtinction #RioGrandeSilveryMinnow #RioGrande
Video Credit: Angela Palacios/USFWS
One-day Old Fish Fry
In May 2018, students from San Antonio Elementary participated in the Native Fish in the Classroom Program. Unfortunately, it was a year of early drying along the Rio Grande. The students were unable to return their fish to the Rio Grande. The students turned over the care of the their fish to the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge Visitor's Center where the fish now live as ambassadors for the Rio Grande.
Today, the Refuge staff were excited to find fish eggs had hatched and they now have close to 100 day-old fish (completely unplanned)! Based on observed behavior over the past several weeks, the staff suspect they are Red Shiners. San Antonio students will be taking over care of these fish once again, and hopefully the progeny of the 2017 fish will make their way to the Rio Grande.
This video is of the very tiny fish fry, about 1-day old. The two larger black dots are the eyes and the smaller black spot seems to be the stomach. We suspect these little fry to be Red Shiners and will know better when they grow a little larger.
Video Credit: Angela Palacios/USFWS
#NativeFish, #RioGrande, USFWS Fisheries
Native Fish of the Rio Grande
Not to be outdone by our native trout, these small natives of the Rio Grande are helping to develop stewardship skills in youth, too. Through the Native Fish in the Classroom program, 10 schools in New Mexico are taking care of Red Shiners, Longnose Dace, Flathead Chub, River Carpsucker, Western Mosquitofish, and Fathead Minnows. These fish all coexist with our endangered Rio Grande Silvery Minnow. Currently housed at Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary, these fish will return home to the Rio Grande in May 2019. The students will send them off with a farewell poem and a big thanks for their service in the classroom. USFWS Fisheries U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Southwest Region
The Rio Grande Cutthroat Trout (RGCT) is New Mexico’s state fish and are currently raised at NM Game and Fish Seven Springs Hatchery. Thanks to the staff at Seven Springs, Native Fish in the Classroom (NFIC) students have RGCT fingerlings to care for. The student’s stewardship skills are blossoming as seen in this classroom video at Monte Vista of healthy, beautiful RGCT fingerlings. Four schools participating in NFIC are raising RGCT; Monte Vista Elementary School, Tesuque, Zia, and Emerson Elementary. Hat’s off to our future fish culturists! USFWS Fisheries
Video Credit: Angela Palacios/USFWS
Mission Accomplished! Rio Grande Cutthroat Trout, provided by Seven Springs Hatchery (NMDGF), have been delivered to four schools participating in the Native Fish in the Classroom Program. As always, the staff at Seven Springs Hatchery have done a fantastic job with their beautiful Rio Grande Cutthroat Trout. NM Game and Fish Video Credit: Angela Palacios James/ USFWS
You never know what a channel catfish might eat. This muskrat found out the hard way.
River carpsucker
Allow us to introduce you to the River Carpsucker. The River Carpsucker is a native fish of the Pecos River and the Rio Grande. It can live up to 11 years and grow to be 13.5 inches long. In other parts of its range, it can grow up to 25 inches. The River Carpsucker has a subterminal (downward facing) mouth that allows it to feed on algae, detritus, protozoa, and other small bottom-dwelling microorganisms.
The fish, videoed here, were collected from an isolated pool during salvage operations for the Rio Grande Silvery Minnow, which means the river was dry and they had nowhere else to go. This particular group of River Carpsuckers will get a second chance at life and will be used for the Native Fish in the Classroom Program. Students will learn about this fish and several other native fish species, eventually setting them free to once again to be a part of the Rio Grande ecosystem.
River Carpsucker video by Angela Palacios James, New Mexico FWCO.
Resident Gila Trout at the New Mexico FWCO
It’s Trout Tuesday! Here's a glimpse of our resident Gila trout. The threatened Gila trout historically resided throughout the upper reaches of the Gila River drainage in Southwestern New Mexico and Southeastern Arizona. The Mora National Fish Hatchery maintains a broodstock of each lineage of Gila trout for recovery of the species as a whole. These Gila trout are of the South Diamond lineage.
Stream from a Fish's Point of View
Stream from a Fish’s Point of View.
A river has many micro-habitats; runs, riffles, and pools. Each one fulfilling the needs of larval and juvenile fish of the West Fork Gila River. As the GoPro races through the enchanted riffle, filled with algae, debris, and vital macroinvertebrates, fish stage at the base of the riffle where the water slows. Juvenile Desert Sucker, Sonora Sucker, and Longfin Dace gather and move throughout the water column to feast on the buffet delivered by the riffle's fast flowing waters. GoPro video by Angela Palacios James, New Mexico FWCO.
