The Utah chub (''Gila atraria'') is a

cyprinid Cyprinidae is a family of freshwater fish commonly called the carp or minnow family. It includes the carps, the true minnows, and relatives like the barbs and barbels. Cyprinidae is the largest and most diverse fish family and the largest verte ...

fish Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of li ...

native to western

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

, where it is abundant in the upper

Snake River The Snake River is a major river of the greater Pacific Northwest region in the United States. At long, it is the largest tributary of the Columbia River, in turn, the largest North American river that empties into the Pacific Ocean. The Snake ...

and throughout the

Lake Bonneville Lake Bonneville was the largest Late Pleistocene paleolake in the Great Basin of western North America. It was a pluvial lake that formed in response to an increase in precipitation and a decrease in evaporation as a result of cooler temperature ...

basin. This chub generally follows the cyprinid body plan. Its

dorsal fin A dorsal fin is a fin located on the back of most marine and freshwater vertebrates within various taxa of the animal kingdom. Many species of animals possessing dorsal fins are not particularly closely related to each other, though through conv ...

lies directly over the pelvic fins, and usually has nine rays. Coloration is rather variable; the back is usually a metallic or olive green ranging to nearly black, and sometimes with a bluish shade, while the sides are silvery, brassy, or golden. Males have somewhat more of a golden look, especially during breeding season, often including a narrow golden stripe along the upper side. Fin colors include dull olive, yellow, and golden shades. It has been recorded in Bear Lake at up to 56 cm in length and 1.5 kg weight, but 40 cm is more typical, and in many areas 15–20 cm is the norm. Utah chubs are omnivorous, consuming both plants and a variety of

insect Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs ...

crustacea Crustaceans (Crustacea, ) form a large, diverse arthropod taxon which includes such animals as decapods, seed shrimp, branchiopods, fish lice, krill, remipedes, isopods, barnacles, copepods, amphipods and mantis shrimp. The crustacean gro ...

snail A snail is, in loose terms, a shelled gastropod. The name is most often applied to land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod molluscs. However, the common name ''snail'' is also used for most of the members of the molluscan class Gastro ...

s, and sometimes small fish or fish

eggs Humans and human ancestors have scavenged and eaten animal eggs for millions of years. Humans in Southeast Asia had domesticated chickens and harvested their eggs for food by 1,500 BCE. The most widely consumed eggs are those of fowl, especial ...

It lives in a variety of

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

s within its

range Range may refer to: Geography * Range (geographic), a chain of hills or mountains; a somewhat linear, complex mountainous or hilly area (cordillera, sierra) ** Mountain range, a group of mountains bordered by lowlands * Range, a term used to i ...

, from irrigation ditches to

pond A pond is an area filled with water, either natural or artificial, that is smaller than a lake. Defining them to be less than in area, less than deep, and with less than 30% emergent vegetation helps in distinguishing their ecology from th ...

s to large

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...

s and

lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...

s, preferring areas with dense vegetation. It is also known from alkaline and salty springs found on

desert A desert is a barren area of landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions are hostile for plant and animal life. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About on ...

floors. Most seem to frequent depths of a meter or less, but one was caught in Bear Lake at a depth of 25 meters. Spawning occurs during late spring and summer, in shallow water (less than a meter deep). 2-6 males escort each female, and fertilize the eggs she scatters at random on the bottom. The eggs then hatch in about a week, the exact time depending on water temperature. Although easily taken with a hook and line, anglers do not consider it a desirable catch, and often find it a nuisance while going after

trout Trout are species of freshwater fish belonging to the genera '' Oncorhynchus'', ''Salmo'' and ''Salvelinus'', all of the subfamily Salmoninae of the family Salmonidae. The word ''trout'' is also used as part of the name of some non-salmoni ...

. Wildlife agencies have even tried eradication programs to reduce the numbers, but have had no effect, the chub population bouncing back easily.

References

External links

* * William F. Sigler and John W. Sigler, ''Fishes of the Great Basin'' (Reno: University of Nevada Press, 1987), pp. 163–166 *
Montana Animal Field Guide
- Utah Chub Detailed Information {{Taxonbar, from=Q2617027

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

Gila (fish) Taxa named by Charles Frédéric Girard Fish described in 1856 Endemic fauna of the United States Fish of the Western United States Freshwater fish of the United States Fauna of the Northwestern United States Fauna of the Rocky Mountains

Utah chub The Utah chub (''Gila atraria'') is a cyprinid fish native to western North America, where it is abundant in the upper Snake River and throughout the Lake Bonneville basin. This chub generally follows the cyprinid body plan. Its dorsal fin lie ...