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The bonytail chub or bonytail ( Gila elegans) is a species of freshwater Actinopterygii belonging to the family Leuciscidae, which includes the , , Phoxinus and related species. This fish is native to the Colorado River basin of Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming in the southwestern United States; it has been Local extinction from the part of the basin in Mexico. It was once abundant and widespread in the basin, its numbers and range have declined to the point where it has been listed as endangered since 1980 (ESA) and 1986 (IUCN), a fate shared by the other large Colorado basin endemism fish species like the Colorado pikeminnow, humpback chub, and razorback sucker. It is now the rarest of the endemic big-river fishes of the Colorado River. There are 20 species in the genus Gila, seven of which are found in Arizona.
There is contention about the reintroduction of the bonytail chub.(18 January 2007) "Editorial: Fish to Fry" The Pueblo Chieftain Pueblo, Colorado Some are concerned about the amount of water used to increase stream flows that are required for adequate bonytail chub habitat.Baird, Joe (20 January 2006) "Uintah County seeks money for possible lawsuit against feds" The Salt Lake Tribune Salt Lake City. Utah. p. B-2 Bass fishermen are concerned about facilitating the recovery of the bonytail chub by the removal of smallmouth bass, a popular gamefish.Staff (3 May 2007) "Group works to control smallmouth bass, pike" Deseret Morning News Salt Lake City, Utah Fears of spreading the quagga mussel, an invasive species that clogs water pipelines and fouls marine equipment, has halted the reintroduction of the bonytail chub in Arizona, pending establishment of a stocking protocol that is satisfactory to Arizona wildlife officials.Rogers, Keith (17 February 2007) "Stocking of trout resumes at lakes" Las Vegas Review-Journal Las Vegas, Nevada, p. 2B
Bonytail chubs are long-lived and may reach an age of up to 50 years.
A USFWS Recovery Plan was established in 1990, and included objectives of protecting the habitats of the bonytail chub, and even reintroducing hatchery-reared fish into the wild.Bagley, B.E. 1989. Nongame field note: Bonytail Chub. Arizona Game and Fish Department, Phoenix. pp. 1–3.
The Bonytail Chub Recovery Plan was approved on September 4, 1990, and refugia for the bonytail chub exist today in several places: Dexter National Fish Hatchery, New Mexico; Arizona Game and Fish Page Springs Hatchery; Ouray National Wildlife Refuge, Ouray, Utah; Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge, Sasabe, Arizona; Niland Native Fish Ponds, California.
Reproduction
Little is known about their reproductive habits, but they are thought to spawn in mid-summer and perhaps hybridize with both Roundtail chub and . Spawning in Lake Mohave has been observed during May, while in the upper Green River, it occurs in the months of June and July. Eggs are laid randomly over the bottom, and no parental care occurs.
Conservation
The bonytail chub's population sizes are small, and continue to become even smaller. The depletion of the population is primarily due to the habitat alterations caused by dams and due to competition and predation by non-native fish.Bestgen, K.R., Zelasko, K.A., Compton, R.I., Chart, T.E. Survival, Condition, Habitat Use, and Predation on Stocked Bonytails (Gila elegans) in the Green River, Colorado and Utah. The Southwestern Naturalist 53(4):488-494. 2008.
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