Evaluation of Spikedace and Loach Minnow Repatriation and Monitoring

Authors: Kaleb Smith, Tony Robinson, Kent Mosher

Year: 2017 (xlix)

Abstract

Spikedace Meda fulgida and loach minnow Tiaroga cobitis, both listed as federally endangered in 2012, have extant populations in only a few streams in Arizona and New Mexico Repatriations are the primary actions used to recover these species Since 2007, these two species have been repatriated to a handful of streams in Arizona Loach minnow have been repatriated in five streams: Redfield Canyon, Hot Springs Canyon, Fossil Creek, upper and lower Bonita Creek and an augmentation to an existing population in the Blue River To date, the only repatriation where the species has successfully established a population is at Hot Springs Canyon Upper Bonita Creek and lower Blue River are still to be determined, while Redfield Canyon and Fossil Creek have not been considered a success Spikedace have been repatriated in six streams: Redfield Canyon, Hot Springs Canyon, Fossil Creek, Bonita Creek, Blue River and most recently in Spring Creek (Yavapai County) Currently, Blue River and Fossil Creek are considered a success with established populations Redfield Canyon, Hot Springs Canyon, and Bonita Creek were not successful repatriations Spring Creek is yet to be determined because the first stocking was in 2015 Since 2007 there have been 9,918 loach minnow stocked into repatriation streams, while only 453 individuals have been observed in post-stocking surveys Also, 17,022 spikedace have been stocked while 5,337 have been observed in post-stocking surveys over the years Success (population establishment) of these repatriations has been hard to judge because of the adherence to a strategy of annual stockings and difficulty in detecting individuals during monitoring Potential threats to repatriated fish may include poor habitat, loss of habitat due to drought and piscivorous fish predation Future repatriations will commence in potential new streams