The Humpback Chub

Scientific Name: Gila cypha

Habitat: deep, fast-moving, turbis waters often associated with large boulders and steep cliffs*

Diet: small aquatic insects, diatoms (a group of eukaryotic algae**), and filamentous algae*

Coloration: green to silver and white*

Mating: April through July during high floes from snowmelt is spawning time for the humpback chub.* The cheeks and venter (I have no idea what this is, but I will find out and let you know) of males develops a red tinge during this time.*

Fun Facts: Humpback chubs are members of the minnow famila, can grow to about 18 inches in length, and have the characteristic hump behind the head.* They are also endangered.*

Sources:

* http://wildlife.state.co.us/WildlifeSpecies/Profiles/Fish/HumpbackChub.htm

**http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diatom (yes - diatoms do look like the picture. I've seen them in my bio lab.)

The Colorado River Cutthroat Trout

Scientific Name: Oncorhynchus clarkii pleruiticus

Habitat: drainages west of the continental divide (the Colorado River in WY, CO, UT, AZ, and NM)*, the Rocky Mountains

Diet: aquatic insects

Coloration: can vary from golden to gray to green on their backs and feature distinctive red, pink, or orange marks on the underside of the lower jaw**

Mating: occurs in shallow, gravely, freshwater streams from Feb. to May. The males court the females by nudging and quivering. The redd (prepared by the female) contains 1100-1700 eggs that are then fertilized. The baby trout hatch 6-7 weeks later.****

Fun Facts: The cutthroat trout was named in honor of William Clark (clarkii), who co-led the Lewis & Clark expedition (1804-06). A subspecies of the cutthroat trout, the greenback cutthroat trout, is the state fish of Colorado. It was declared the state fish in 1994.***

Sources:
*http://wildlife.state.co.us/Research/Aquatic/CutthroatTrout/CutthroatTrout.htm#ColoradoRiver
**http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cutthroat_trout
***http://statesymbolsusa.org/Colorado/fish_greenback_cut.html
****http://www.bcadventure.com/adventure/angling/game_fish/cutthroat.phtml