The Oregon chub (''Oregonichthys crameri'') is a species of
ray-finned fish
Actinopterygii (; ), members of which are known as ray-finned fishes, is a class of bony fish. They comprise over 50% of living vertebrate species.
The ray-finned fishes are so called because their fins are webs of skin supported by bony or h ...
in the family
Cyprinidae.
It is
endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...
to
Oregon
Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. T ...
in the United States. From 1993 to 2015 it was a federally listed threatened species.
This chub is native to the drainage of the
Willamette River
The Willamette River ( ) is a major tributary of the Columbia River, accounting for 12 to 15 percent of the Columbia's flow. The Willamette's main stem is long, lying entirely in northwestern Oregon in the United States. Flowing northward b ...
in Oregon. It was once distributed throughout the drainage in shallow water habitat, but changes in the
hydrology
Hydrology () is the scientific study of the movement, distribution, and management of water on Earth and other planets, including the water cycle, water resources, and environmental watershed sustainability. A practitioner of hydrology is call ...
of the region have eliminated much of this habitat and restricted the chub to several streams and rivers.
Dam
A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use ...
s and channels were constructed and
non-native species of fish were introduced to the area. The chub was listed as endangered in 1993 and downlisted to threatened in 2010.
[Bangs, B. L., P. D. Scheerer, R. L. Jacobsen, and S. E. Jacobs. 2010]
2010 Oregon Chub Investigations.
Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. Fish Research Project EF-10, Annual Progress Report, Corvallis.
In early 2014, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said that the small, silver-speckled minnow would become the first fish to be taken off the endangered species list when its numbers returned from fewer than 1,000 individuals to an estimated 160,000. It was delisted on February 17, 2015 with populations of more than 140,000 in 80 different locations.
References
External links
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Chubs (fish)
Oregonichthys
Freshwater fish of the United States
Natural history of Oregon
Fish described in 1908
Taxonomy articles created by Polbot
Minnows
{{Leuciscinae-stub