Endangered and Threatened fish species

Having found no single listing of all endangered, threatened or otherwise listed species of fish in the US, my friend Google and I spent a few hours searching each state’s listings. I only included fish big enough to catch on conventional gear (i.e., not “micros”), but I intend to amend that if and when I get time.

All I really wanted were redhorse and other suckers, but since I didn’t find a list like this anywhere I did a quick scan of all 50 states’ endangered and threatened fish species.
I left out most minnows and micros except for some chubs that I knew (or thought I remembered knowing) get large enough to fish for in a non-micro way. I’m sure I left out a lot (especially chubs). Feel free to suggest additions/subtractions/changes.

If anyone has millions of dollars in grant money, I’d be happy to travel the country and try to catch all of these species and take photos for a glossy coffee table book. (I won’t need millions–just a hefty chunk of it.)

Not all states make it easy to find this info, and not all states make the info they provide easy to understand. Only a few states provide information on extirpated and extinct species. I would like to expand on that some day.

This is a rough draft. There are scientific names to add, states to examine more closely, and many other tasks. In the meantime, this might be useful to someone.

In the list that follows
S = state
F = federal
E = endangered
T = threatened
C = candidate for listing

Alabama

Alabama sturgeon
gulf sturgeon
lake sturgeon

Alaska (have not yet found info on Alaskan species)

Arizona

SE:

bonytail chub
Colorado pikeminnow
humpback chub
razorback sucker (FE)
Virgin River chub

ST:

Apache trout
Gila trout
Yaqui catfish

SC:

roundtail chub
Zuni bluehead sucker

Arkansas

FE:

pallid sturgeon
According to the Nature Conservancy, (cited in a 2009 article in “The Southwestern Naturalist” by McAllister, Starnes, Robison, Jenkins, Raley) the silver redhorse is “threatened and critically imperiled in Arkansas.”

California

FT:

green sturgeon
chinook salmon (coastal)
Little Kern golden trout
Lahontan cutthroat trout
Paiute cutthroat trout
Steelhead (northern CA, central CA coast, south CA coast, Central Valley)
Santa Ana sucker

FE:

Steelhead (southern CA coast)

SE FE:

Chinook salmon (winter run)
coho salmon (central CA coast)
bonytail
Colorado pikeminnow
Lost River sucker
Modoc sucker
shortnose sucker
razorback sucker

ST FT:

chinook salmon (spring run)
coho salmon (s. Oregonn. CA)
plus lots of chubs and others

Colorado

FE SE:

bonytail
razorback sucker

FE ST:

Colorado pikeminnow
greenback cutthroat trout

SE:

Rio Grande sucker

Special Concern:

mountain sucker
Rio Grande chub
Colorado roundtail chub
Colorado River cutthroat trout
Rio Grande cutthroat trout

Connecticut

SE FE:

shortnose sturgeon

SE:

burbot

ST:

Atlantic sturgeon

SC:

blueback herring
longnose sucker

Delaware

E:

Atlantic sturgeon

Florida

FE:

shortnose sturgeon
smallmouth sawfish

FT:

gulf sturgeon

state special concern:

Atlantic sturgeon

Georgia

SE FE:

shortnose sturgeon

SE:

robust redhorse
sicklefin redhorse (also FC)

ST:

Alabama shad

Hawaii (none found so far)

Idaho

E:

sockeye salmon (Snake River)
white sturgeon (Kootenai River)

T:

bull trout
chinook salmon (Snake River)
steelhead (Snake River)

Illinois

SE:

lake sturgeon
redspotted sunfish
greater redhorse

FE SE:

pallid sturgeon

ST:

longnose sucker
river redhorse

Indiana

SE:

greater redhorse
lake sturgeon

special concern:

longnose sucker
Ohio River muskellunge
lake whitefish

Iowa

SE FE:

pallid sturgeon

SE:

lake sturgeon

ST:

grass pickerel
black redhorse

Kansas

E:

Pallid sturgeon

species in need of conservation:

black redhorse
blue sucker
highfin carpsucker
northern hogsucker
river redhorse
spotted sucker
lake sturgeon

Kentucky

FE:

pallid sturgeon

Louisiana

FE:

pallid sturgeon

T:

gulf sturgeon

Maine

FE:

Atlantic salmon
shortnose sturgeon

SE:

redfin pickerel

Maryland

SE FE:

shortnose sturgeon

ST:

flier

FC:

Atlantic sturgeon

extirpated:

longnose sucker

Massachusetts

SE FE:

shortnose sturgeon

SE:

Atlantic sturgeon

SC:

longnose sucker
burbot

Michigan

SE:

western creek chubsucker

ST:

lake sturgeon
mooneye
some ciscoes
sauger
river redhorse

extirpated:

2 ciscoes
paddlefish
arctic grayling

extinct:

blue pike
1 cisco

Minnesota

ST:

paddlefish

special concern:

lake sturgeon
skipjack herring
blue sucker
black buffalo
yellow bass

Mississippi

SE FE:

pallid sturgeon
Alabama sturgeon

SE FT:

gulf sturgeon

Missouri

E:

pallid sturgeon
lake sturgeon

Montana

E:

pallid sturgeon
white sturgeon

ST:

bull trout

candidate:

arctic grayling

Nebraska

SE FE:

pallid sturgeon

ST:

lake sturgeon

Nevada

State protected:

White River desert sucker
Meadow Valley Wash desert sucker
Wall Canyon sucker
Warner sucker (also FT)
cui-ui (also FE)
bonytail chub (FE)
Pahranagat roundtail chub (FE)
Yellowstone cutthroat trout
Lahontan cutthroat trout (also FT)
Bonneville cutthroat trout
inland Columbia basin redband trout
bull trout (Jarbidge River basin population) (FT)
razorback sucker (FE)

special status/sensitive species:

flannelmouth sucker

US Forest Service Region 5 Sensitive Species not yet known from Inyo National Forest or Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit:

Warner Valley redband trout

New Hampshire

SE FE:

shortnose sturgeon

New Jersey

SE FE:

shortnose sturgeon

New Mexico

SE:

roundtail chub
gila chub
chihuahua chub
Colorado pikeminnow
Zuni bluehead sucker
blue sucker

ST:

gila trout
gray redhorse

New York

SE FE:

shortnose sturgeon

SE:

round whitefish

ST:

lake sturgeon
mooneye
longear sunfish

extirpated:

silver chub
lake chubsucker

special concern:

black redhorse

North Carolina

E:

shortnose sturgeon

North Dakota

FE:

pallid sturgeon

Level I species in need of conservation (greatest need):

blue sucker

Level II (need conservation but have support from other programs):

paddlefish
pallid sturgeon
silver chub

Level III (moderate need but ND is on the edge of its range):

yellow bullhead
flathead catfish

Ohio

SE:

blue sucker
longnose sucker
spotted gar
shortnose gar
lake sturgeon
shovelnose sturgeon
goldeye

ST:

greater redhorse
lake chubsucker

special concern:

river redhorse

extinct:

harelip sucker

Oklahoma (none found so far)

Oregon

E:

Modoc sucker
shortnose sucker
Lost River sucker

T:

Warner sucker
Lahontan cutthroat trout
bull trout

species of concern:

Goose Lake sucker
Jenny Creek sucker
Klamath largescale sucker
several chubs
Westslope cutthroat trout
coastal cutthroat trout
Great Basin redband trout
Catlow Valley redband trout

Pennsylvania

SE:

shortnose sturgeon (FE)
lake sturgeon
atlantic sturgeon
spotted gar
longnose sucker
bigmouth buffalo
black bullhead
burbot
warmouth
longear sunfish (which?)

ST:

spotted sucker

SC:

bowfin

Rhode Island

FE SH (historically existed in state, but not now):

Atlantic sturgeon
shortnose sturgeon

South Carolina

FE SE:

shortnose sturgeon

Critically imperiled in NC and GA:

robust redhorse

South Dakota

FE SE:

pallid sturgeon

ST:

longnose sucker

FT:

shovelnose sturgeon

Tennessee

FE, SE:

pallid sturgeon

SE:

lake sturgeon

ST:

blue sucker

Deemed in need of management:

highfin carpsucker
blackfin sucker
harelip sucker (I wish them luck managing an extinct fish.)
alligator gar

Texas

SE FE:

smalltooth sawfish

ST:

shovelnose sturgeon
paddlefish
blue sucker
creek chubsucker

Utah

SE:

bonytail
Colorado pikeminnow
humpback chub
razorback sucker
june sucker
Virgin River chub

ST:

lahontan cutthroat trout
roundtail chub

special concern due to declining population:

leatherside chub
flannelmouth sucker
bluehead sucker

special concern due to limited distribution:

Bonneville cisco
Bonneville whitefish
Bear Lake whitefish
desert sucker

Vermont

SE:

lake sturgeon

Special Concern (status should be monitored):

American eel
blueback herring
quillback
silver redhorse
greater redhorse
round whitefish
muskellunge

Species of Greatest Conservation Need as identified in the Vermont Wildlife Action Plan: does not denote legal protection. (All the species above are also considered SGCN.)

redbreast sunfish
redfin pickerel
lake trout
brook trout
Atlantic salmon
lake whitefish
cisco or lake herring
shorthead redhorse
American shad
mooneye

Virginia

SE FE:

shortnose sturgeon

ST:

paddlefish

Washington

FE SC:

Chinook salmon (upper Columbia)
Sockeye salmon (Snake River)

FT SC:

bull trout
chinook salmon (lower Columbia, Puget Sound, Snake River fall run, Snake River spring/summer run)
chum salmon (Hood Canal, lower Columbia)
sockeye salmon (Ozette Lake)
steelhead (lower Columbia River, middle Columbia, Puget Sound, Snake River, upper Columbia)

FT (not SC):

coho salmon
green sturgeon

FC:

kokanee (Lake Sammamish)

SC:

mountain sucker

Washington State Monitored:

Salish sucker (Catostomus catostomus)

West Virginia

Has no state listed E or T species, so list includes FE, FT or “rare” species.

black bullhead
American eel
river carpsucker
highfin carpsucker
blue sucker
creek chubsucker
grass pickerel
bigmouth buffalo
black buffalo
warmouth
orangespotted sunfish
river redhorse
paddlefish
torrent sucker

Wisconsin

SE:

skipjack herring
goldeye
black redhorse

ST:

blue sucker
black buffalo
longear sunfish (which?)
river redhorse
greater redhorse
paddlefish

special concern:

lake sturgeon
lake chubsucker

extirpated:

creek chubsucker

Wyoming (none found so far)

According to a pdf distributed by the Michigan DNR (web4.msue.msu.edumnfiabstractszoologyMoxostoma_carinatum.pdf), the river redhorse is listed as endangered in Florida, South Carolina, Kansas and Oklahoma; threatened in Quebec, Ontario, New York, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, Georgia and Louisiana; special concern in Indiana, Ohio, Pennsyl.vania, Virginia and West Virginia. The pdf is from 2004 and the information from 2001.

I haven’t had time to bite off Canada or Mexico yet. Any volunteers?

Anything to add, question, object to or say?