Gars!
Sturgeons!
er..medium sized blobby looking fish...?
um...smaller fish that isn't a gar or sturgeon...
Turtle!

There was a time when every living room in America had a copy of this record.

Colorado pikeminnow was one of the first fishes put on the federal Endangered Species list in 1973 due to a combo of overharvest by settlers, introduction of nonnative species + most significantly, large dams and human water use that altered river flows + restricted their movement #25DaysofFishmas

🎶I’m dreaming of a white… salmon?🎶

European settlers called the Colorado pikeminnow “white salmon” because adults can migrate long distances (>200 miles) to find suitable spawning habitat in canyons. Once eggs hatch, the larvae drift downstream to backwater habitats where they grow #25DaysofFishmas

Despite lacking any teeth on their jaws, Colorado pikeminnows are the top native predators in the Colorado River basin. They do have long, curved teeth in their throat (pharyngeal teeth) that help them process prey (mostly fish, but whatever they can catch!) that they swallow whole #25DaysofFishmas

While “large minnow” sounds like an oxymoron on par with “jumbo shrimp”, the Colorado pikeminnow historically grew nearly 6 ft/2 m long and could weigh over 80 lbs/40 kg. These days, however, the largest individuals are typically less than 4 ft/1.2 m long #25DaysofFishmas

The Colorado pikeminnow was historically found in large warm-water rivers throughout the - you guessed it - Colorado River basin in both the US and Mexico. They now occupy ~25% of their historical range and are only found in the Upper Basin (mostly in Utah + Colorado) #25DaysofFishmas

Colorado pikeminnow is one of 4 species of pikeminnows (Ptychocheilus genus), all found in western North America + all large, predatory fish in the Leuciscidae (minnow) family. Though none grow as large - or as old (50+ years!) - as the Colorado pikeminnow! #25DaysofFishmas