The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today announced the final listing of the Zuni bluehead sucker (Catostomus discobolus yarrowi) as an endangered species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The Zuni bluehead sucker – a small, slender, torpedo-shaped fish – is endemic to the headwaters of the Little Colorado River and the Zuni River watersheds in east-central Arizona and west-central New Mexico. This final listing rule will become effective August 25, 2014.
The Zuni bluehead sucker is in decline due to the combined effects of the following factors: habitat destruction, modification, and degradation resulting from water withdrawal (stream drying); sedimentation; impoundments; livestock grazing; spread of non-native species; predation by non-native species such as the green sunfish, northern crayfish, and red swamp crayfish. In addition, small population size and restricted ranges of the species make the Zuni bluehead sucker population vulnerable to stochastic events, such as wildfire and drought.
