Up to 20 inches long

The humpback chub has a pronounced hump behind its head and a small beak-like mouth. It was specifically adapted to the fast-moving, violent currents of Colorado River floods and silted, warm water of the desert summer and autumn. It has a dark olive colored back, with silver sides and a white belly.

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 humpback chub was nearly the entire Green and Colorado River drainage. There are presently two stable populations: in Westwater Canyon on the Colorado and Utah border and in an area called Black Rocks in Colorado. Smaller numbers have been found in the Yampa and Green Rivers n Dinosaur National Monument and Desolation Canyon. The largest known population is near the mouth of the Little Colorado River in Grand Canyon.

The humpback chub doesn’t have the speed of a top predator. Instead, it uses its large fins to glide through slow-moving areas, feeding on insects that have become trapped in the water pockets.

Little brown myotis feed on a variety of insects, mainly aquatic insects like caddis flies, midges, and mayflies. They catch prey while flying in open areas near vegetation, along water margins, and just above the surface of water.

These fish spawn as young as 2-3 years, and at lengths as small as five inches. They generally breed between March and July.

Endangered

The construction of dams, particularly in the Upper Basin, isolated the fish in segmented portions of its habitat. Backwaters and other habitat features disappeared as dams and other flood-control devices regulated the flooding of the Colorado and its tributaries. 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.

Actions being taken to recover the humpback chub include boosting and protecting river flows in the spring, monitoring fish populations and managing game fish to reduce conflicts.

These odd-looking fish have chosen some of the most spectacular real estate on the planet as a place to make their home. All of the existing populations are in locations that early explorers, such as John Wesley Powell, referred to in their journals specifically because of their remoteness and stark beauty.