Nevada Area Report

Authors: Eric S. Miskow, Cristi R. Baldino, Lee H. Simons, Chris Crookshanks, Kevin Guadalupe, Jeff Petersen, Shawn C. Goodchild

Year: 2012 (xliv)

Abstract

A summary, overview and status of Nevada’s desert fishes, current research and management projects in the state are addressed. Nevada waters contain 16, endangered and 6 threatened species of fishes as well as numerous undescribed taxa. Moapa dace, Moapa coriacea , have increased in numbers over the past year in response to habitat improvements and ongoing removal of exotic competitors/predators. The estimated population is 1,181 (up from 713 a year ago). Efforts continue to ensure that blue tilapia are gone from Warm Springs and are eradicated further downstream. Fish barriers are being removed or re-built to facilitate demographic connectivity between breeding habitat (springheads) and holding habitat downstream (larger outflows). Bureau of Land Management will build two additional pass-through barriers in 2012 downstream from the Warm Springs area to benefit native Virgin River chub, Gila seminuda , Moapa speckled dace, Rhinichthys osculus moapae, and indirectly Moapa dace as well. Threats include red shiner, Cyprinella lutrensis, red swamp crayfish, Procambarus clarkia, and Ictalurids in the lower river. In far eastern Nevada, habitat restoration in ongoing for remnant populations of the relict dace, Relictus solitaries, in the southern portion of the Ruby Valley National Wildlife Refuge. The creation of more suitable habitat as well as a rotenone application for removal of nonnatives and relict dace/speckled dace, Rhinichthys osculus ssp. hybrids is scheduled for early autumn. Continued habitat enhancements for the undescribed Wall Canyon sucker, Catostomus sp. in northeastern Nevada has been ongoing in the form of crayfish removal. As non-native brown trout, Salmo trutta as well as signal crayfish, Pacifastacus leniusculus, continue to heavily impact the Wall Canyon sucker. In concert with the United States Geological Service (USGS), the Department of Wildlife received a grant from the Desert Fish Habitat Partnership to construct a fish movement barrier on Mountain View Creek in an effort to prevent or hinder the invasion of nonnative brown trout and signal crayfish into the stream. A total of 104 Wall Canyon suckers were transplanted into Wall Canyon Creek from Mountain View Creek in the spring of 2010. In addition, trapping activities completed in both 2011 and 2012 were successful in the removal of 5,609 crayfish inhabiting the upper portion of Wall Canyon Creek. It is hoped that these measures will expedite the re-colonization of the stream by Wall Canyon suckers and hasten the recovery of the species. At the Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge, the restoration and rehabilitation of Longstreet and Rodgers Spring outflow channels is scheduled to begin in February of 2013. This will complete restoration of the major springs in the upper Carson Slough. A project to eradicate the red swamp crayfish, Procambarus clarki, at the South Scruggs Complex to create more preferable habitat for the Warm Springs Amargosa pupfish, Cyprinodon nevadensis pectoralis, is scheduled for this fall. The refuge has also purchased two additional land parcels including Five Springs which contain the Ash Meadows Amargosa pupfish, Cyprinodon nevadensis mionectes. In addition to these species updates, restoration efforts in central Nevada in Railroad Valley at both Lockes Ranch and the Duckwater tribal lands continues for the Threatened Railroad Valley springfish, Crenichthys nevadae, also updates on the Endangered Clover Valley speckled dace, Rhinichthys osculus oligoporus, and the Pahranagat river fishes will be discussed.