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NAS - Nonindigenous Aquatic Species |
Common Name: Sacramento pikeminnow
Synonyms and Other Names: Sacramento squawfish
Identification: Moyle (1976a); Page and Burr (1991). The American Fisheries Society Names Committee has changed the common name of all squawfish to pikeminnow (Nelson et al. 1998).
Size: 36 cm.
Native Range:
Clear Lake, Russian, Sacramento-San Joaquin, Pajaro-Salinas, and upper Pit River drainages, California (Page and Burr 1991).
Nonindigenous Occurrences: This species is known from several sites in California, including Lake Arrowhead, Pyramid Lake, and tributaries of Morro Bay in the southern part of the state, and from the Eel River drainage in the north (Brown and Moyle 1991; Swift et al. 1993).
Means of Introduction: Illegally introduced into the Eel River in 1979 or 1980; the species spread rapidly within the drainage after introduction (Brown and Moyle 1991). Fish found in Pyramid Lake probably arrived through the aqueduct with central California water (Swift et al. 1993).
Status: Established in California outside of its native range (Brown and Moyle 1991; Swift et al. 1993).
Impact of Introduction: Field observations indicated that the introduction of Sacramento pikeminnow into the Eel River, California, resulted in changes in habitat and microhabitat use by resident fishes (natives and introduced) but no loss of species (Brown and Moyle 1991). In its native range, this piscivorous cyprinid is known to compete with trout and also prey upon young salmonids (Burns 1966d; but see Brown and Moyle 1981).
Remarks: Voucher specimens: California (SIO 66-75).
Other Resources:
FishBase Fact Sheet
Author: Leo Nico
Revision Date: 12/5/2003 Citation for this information:
Leo Nico. 2009. Ptychocheilus grandis. USGS Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Database, Gainesville, FL.
<http://nas.er.usgs.gov/queries/FactSheet.asp?speciesID=627> Revision Date: 12/5/2003
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