Gila nigra
Headwater Chub
NS
G2
Collection Details
Specimens
Photos
There are no photos available for this taxon yet.
Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Cypriniformes (Carps and Minnows)
Cyprinidae (Carps and Minnows)
Gila
Gila nigra (Headwater Chub)
Description
This species account was compiled from
FishBase (Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2025. FishBase. World Wide Web electronic publication. www.fishbase.org, version 04/2025.)
and processed using AI-assisted text extraction.
It may contain errors in spelling, punctuation, or formatting.
When citing, please reference the original source rather than this page.
Learn more about our species accounts.
Characters
Body shape: Elongated. Previously thought to be of hybrid origin and similar to parental Gila robusta and G. intermedia. Dorsal and anal fins with 8 rays; lateral line with 71-90 scales, usually fewer than 80; first gill arch with 10 or more rakers; and often with diffuse stripes on dark gray or brown side, dark fin membranes (Ref. 86798).
Distribution
North America: Gila River system (Colorado River drainage) in New Mexico and Arizona, USA.
Habitat Associations
Freshwater. benthopelagic.
Biology
Inhabits pools and undercut banks of headwaters, creeks and small rivers. Maximum length is presumably about 38 cm TL (Ref. 86798).
Max length: 38.0 cm TL.
IUCN Red List Status: Near Threatened (NT), assessed 2012-02-09. Resilience: Low (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
References
Page, L.M. and B.M. Burr (2011) A field guide to freshwater fishes of North America north of Mexico. Boston : Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 663p.
Comments On Gila nigra