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The cui-ui ( Chasmistes cujus) is a large Catostomidae fish Endemism to Pyramid Lake and, prior to its desiccation in the 20th century, Winnemucca Lake in northwestern Nevada. It feeds primarily on zooplankton and possibly on nanoplankton (such as algae and diatoms). The maximum size of male cui-ui is approximately and , while females reach approximately and . A cui-ui typically lives for 40 years but does not reach sexual maturity until at least age eight. The cui-ui is an endangered species, and one of the few surviving members of its genus.Truckee-Carson-Pyramid Lake Water Rights Settlement Act: Hearing Before the Subcommittee on Water before the United States Congress, Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Subcommittee on Water and Power (1990)
The cui-ui population is generally improving in numbers, having attained an estimated population exceeding one million in 1993, thanks to the efforts of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in analysis of the Truckee River spawning grounds and of the Nevada Department of Environmental Protection and EPA in following up on protection measures. The reason the cui-ui remains endangered (though upgraded from critically endangered in 2014) is the recent history of recruitment variation, illustrating that in many years of the 1970s and 1980s there was virtually no recruitment whatsoever due to unsuccessful spawning in an unfavorable water quality and water flow environment of the Truckee River. The species' outlook is uncertain since a recovery plan based on an enhanced understanding of Pyramid Lake and Truckee River water quality has been published and U.S. Congress adopted a protection plan.United States Congress, Public Law 101-618, Section 207. 16 November 1990. Accessed 17 April 2023 via congress.gov.
The Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe of the Pyramid Lake Reservation maintain three hatcheries to ensure the long term viability of the cui-ui. These measures have greatly increased cui-ui populations, although it is still listed as an endangered species.
Subsequent to European American settlement of western Nevada in the 1860s many Cui-ui Ticutta made a living by selling fish, although the European Americans generally preferred trout to cui-ui. Cui-ui were also still important for subsistence, despite Bureau of Indian Affairs attempts to encourage farming and discourage fishing.
After the 1905 construction of Derby Dam which diverted much of the Truckee River's flow, the Pyramid Lake fishery declined. By 1930, it no longer supplied even subsistence food. Although conditions have improved recently, the cui-ui are managed for cultural and ecological purposes, not as a human food source.
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