Up to six feet long and 90 pounds

Silver-colored with a slightly spotted pattern on the back, light belly. This top predator of the wild rivers is a torpedo-shaped fish eater, or piscavore. As an adult it can reach enormous size and its head grows disproportionately to its body, allowing for a large, ravenous mouth.

30 years

Historic habitat was the turbid waters and clear, gravel-bottomed tributary streams of the Green and Colorado River systems.

Historic range for the Colorado pike minnow was nearly the entire Green and Colorado River drainage. Their present range is restricted to limited sections main rivers of the Green and Colorado.

Mormon pioneers referred to the Colorado pike minnow as the “Colorado salmon” or the “White salmon.” It was similar to the salmon in that it would take long migrations of 200 miles or more to spawn in the cold, fresh, clear water of the small tributaries and streams.

The Colorado pike minnow is an incredibly fast and efficient predator. It was the king of the Colorado River. It swims up from behind schools of much smaller fish and eats them as it swims.

Similar to the salmon, the Colorado pike minnow may take long migrations of 200 miles or more to spawn in the cold, fresh, clear water of the small tributaries and streams. The Colorado pike minnow reaches sexual maturity at about 10 years, and spawns in the late spring.

Endangered

The construction of dams, particularly in the Upper Basin, cut migration of this magnificent fish in half and then by quarters, isolating the fish in segmented portions of its habitat. The cycle of migration, spawning and recruitment of juvenile fish into adult populations was interrupted. Introduction of other aggressive fish, such as pike, trout and bass in the river system has negatively impacted the recovery of this fish through competition and predation on the young pike minnow.

Stocking and reintroduction efforts have been hit and miss, because of predation on the small stocked fish. Of all the native fish of the Colorado River, these fast-movers have the best chance of recovery. By rearing fish to a larger size before release, there is better recruitment into adult populations. The ultimate goal is to recover habitat and allow for migration, so the Colorado pike minnow will again grow to become King of the Colorado.

The Colorado pike minnow were once so common, they were commercially fished for markets in Denver, Salt Lake and even San Francisco. And, it appeared as a featured entrée on Christmas 1875 menu at Lee’s Ferry.