Fishes Of Sespe Creek, California
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Sespe Creek Sespe Creek (Chumashan languages, Chumash: S'eqp'e', "Kneecap") is a stream, some long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed March 16, 2011 in Ventura County, California, Ve ...
is located in the southern
Los Padres National Forest Los Padres National Forest is a United States national forest in Southern California, southern and central California. Administered by the United States Forest Service, Los Padres includes most of the mountainous land along the California coast ...
in
Ventura County Ventura County () is a county located in the southern part of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 843,843. The largest city is Oxnard, and the county seat is the city of Ventura. Ventura County comprises ...
,
Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural List of regions of California, region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its densely populated coastal reg ...
. The stream winds over through the Sierra Madre Mountains and
Topatopa Mountains The Topatopa Mountains are a mountain range in Ventura County, California, north of Ojai, Santa Paula, and Fillmore. They are part of the Transverse Ranges of Southern California. Etymology A name for the mountains was first inscribed within t ...
, foothills and valleys, and very narrow canyons and gorges.


Geography

Sespe Creek's
headwaters The headwater of a river or stream is the geographical point of its beginning, specifically where surface runoff water begins to accumulate into a flowing channel of water. A river or stream into which one or many tributary rivers or streams flo ...
are in Portero Seco of the Sierra Madre Mountains, and are formed by more than thirty tributary streams in those and the Topatopa Mountains, before its
confluence In geography, a confluence (also ''conflux'') occurs where two or more watercourses join to form a single channel (geography), channel. A confluence can occur in several configurations: at the point where a tributary joins a larger river (main ...
with the Santa Clara River, in Fillmore. Sespe Creek is a National Scenic Waterway and is one of the longest creeks untouched by dams or cement channels. The Sespe Wilderness Area protects a portion of its watershed and channel. The Sespe Creek
watershed Watershed may refer to: Hydrology * Drainage divide, the line that separates neighbouring drainage basins * Drainage basin, an area of land where surface water converges (North American usage) Music * Watershed Music Festival, an annual country ...
is known for the
Sespe Condor Sanctuary The Sespe Condor Sanctuary is a wildlife refuge in the Topatopa Mountains, in northeastern Ventura County, California, Ventura County, California. It is within the Sespe Wilderness in the southern Los Padres National Forest. History The United ...
. Established in 1947, it is where the
critically endangered species An IUCN Red List critically endangered (CR or sometimes CE) species is one that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild. As of December 2023, of the ...
California condor The California condor (''Gymnogyps californianus'') is a New World vulture and the largest North American land bird. It became extinct in the wild in 1987 when all remaining wild individuals were captured, but has since been reintroduced to n ...
(''Gymnogyps californicus'') has been re-introduced.


Fish

At least twelve native and introduced fishes can be found in the creek: * Arroyo chub – ''Gila orcuttii'' * Pacific lamprey – ''Entosphenus tridentatus'' * Prickly sculpin – ''Cottus asper'' * Santa Ana sucker – ''Catostomus santaanae'' *
Steelhead trout Steelhead, or occasionally steelhead trout, is the anadromous form of the coastal rainbow trout or Columbia River redband trout (''O. m. gairdneri'', also called redband steelhead). Steelhead are native to cold-water tributaries of the Pacif ...
– ''Oncorhynchus mykiss irideus'' *
Three-spined stickleback The three-spined stickleback (''Gasterosteus aculeatus'') is a fish native to most inland and coastal waters north of 30°N. It has long been a subject of scientific study for many reasons. It shows great morphological variation throughout its ra ...
– ''Gasterosteus aculeatus'' *
Green sunfish The green sunfish (''Lepomis cyanellus'') is a species of aggressive freshwater fish in the sunfish family ( Centrarchidae) of order Centrarchiformes. The green sunfish does not always grow large enough to be an appealing target for anglers, ...
– ''Lepomis cyanellus'' (introduced) *
Fathead minnow Fathead minnow (''Pimephales promelas''), also known as fathead or tuffy, is a species of freshwater Actinopterygii, ray-finned fish belonging to the Family (biology), family Leuciscidae, the shiners, daces and minnows. The natural geographic ra ...
– ''Pimephales promelas'' (introduced) *
Black bullhead The black bullhead or black bullhead catfish (''Ameiurus melas'') is a species of Ameiurus, bullhead catfish. Like other bullhead catfish, it has the ability to thrive in waters that are low in oxygen, brackish, turbid, and/or very warm. It also ...
– ''Ameiurus melas'' (introduced) * Mosquitofish – ''Gambusia affinis'' (introduced) *
Golden shiner The golden shiner (''Notemigonus crysoleucas'') is a species of freshwater ray-finned fish belonging to the family Leuciscidae. This fish occurs in Eastern North America. It is the sole member of its genus. Commonly used as a bait fish, it is pr ...
– ''Notemigonus crysoleucas'' (introduced) * Threadfin shad – ''Dorosoma petenense'' (introduced) *
Rainbow trout The rainbow trout (''Oncorhynchus mykiss'') is a species of trout native to cold-water tributary, tributaries of the Pacific Ocean in North America and Asia. The steelhead (sometimes called steelhead trout) is an Fish migration#Classification, ...
– ''Oncorhynchus mykiss'' (introduced) A common fish in Sespe Creek is the threespine stickleback (''Gasterosteus aculeatus''), which is easily identified by its three dorsal spines. The Pacific lamprey (''Entosphenus tridentatus'') enters Sespe Creek from the Santa Clara River, which flows into the Pacific Ocean. The arroyo chub (''Gila orcuttii'') is often found in schools. The Santa Ana sucker (''Catostomus santaanae'') is common around waterfalls. The
introduced species An introduced species, alien species, exotic species, adventive species, immigrant species, foreign species, non-indigenous species, or non-native species is a species living outside its native distributional range, but which has arrived ther ...
,
green sunfish The green sunfish (''Lepomis cyanellus'') is a species of aggressive freshwater fish in the sunfish family ( Centrarchidae) of order Centrarchiformes. The green sunfish does not always grow large enough to be an appealing target for anglers, ...
(''Lepomis cyanellus''), can be found in shallow, weedy areas.


See also

*
California chaparral and woodlands The California chaparral and woodlands is a terrestrial ecoregion of southwestern Oregon, northern, central, and southern California (United States) and northwestern Baja California (Mexico), located on the west coast of North America. It is a ...
*
Fauna of the California chaparral and woodlands Fauna (: faunae or faunas) is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding terms for plants and fungi are ''flora'' and '' funga'', respectively. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively ...
*
California montane chaparral and woodlands The California montane chaparral and woodlands is an ecoregion defined by the World Wildlife Fund, spanning of mountains in the Transverse Ranges, Peninsular Ranges, and Coast Ranges of southern and central California. The ecoregion is part of ...
*
Riparian zone A riparian zone or riparian area is the interface between land and a river or stream. In some regions, the terms riparian woodland, riparian forest, riparian buffer zone, riparian corridor, and riparian strip are used to characterize a ripari ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fishes Of Sespe Creek, California Lists of fauna of California Fish of the Western United States Fauna of the California chaparral and woodlands Natural history of Ventura County, California + Topatopa Mountains