41: Colorado Roundtail Chub

I write to you from Arapahoe, Ute, and Cheyenne land. I am interested in learning about the different animals that live in the place where I was born. I want to mention that biological classification as taught by western science has its roots in racism, sexism, and transphobia – here’s a good explainer about why.

It’s time for another Colorado River Basin fish – this time, the Colorado Roundtail Chub (Gila robusta), They are a silvery minnow who mainly live below 7500 feet along the western drainage of the River. They’re cute little guys, but they are also voracious predators, eating many calories per day in fish, insects, crustaceans, and frogs.

As a human, animals whose choose the reproductive strategy of massive carpet bombing of eggs instead of carefully investing 18+ years in raising a single offspring always boggle my mind. From Colorado Fish Explorer,

“Upon reaching sexual maturity at two to three years of age, chub spawn when water temperatures reach approximately 64 degrees in late spring to early summer… Each female is escorted by 3-5 males… Females produce approximately 20,000 eggs per pound of body weight [emphasis mine]. Eggs hatch in 4-15 days and the fry begin feeding within ten days. Young chub move to margins of streams to feed, where they grow to three inches or so in the first year.”

That is… so very many eggs.

Like many fish in the Colorado River basin, the roundtail chub has been impacted by human dam building and other forms of habitat destruction – so much so that the Center for Biological Diversity even pursued legal action against the Department of the Interior on their behalf.

And that’s really everything interesting I can find to say about these fellas. Tomorrow’s animal is one with a lot of misconceptions about it – including its common English name.