| Colorado pikeminnow | |
|---|---|
| |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Cypriniformes |
| Family: | Cyprinidae |
| Subfamily: | Leuciscinae |
| Clade: | Laviniinae |
| Genus: | Ptychocheilus |
| Species: | P. lucius
|
| Binomial name | |
| Ptychocheilus lucius Girard, 1856
| |
The Colorado pikeminnow (Ptychocheilus lucius, formerly squawfish) is the largest cyprinid fish of North America and one of the largest in the world, with reports of individuals up to 6 ft (1.8 m) long[3] and weighing over 100 pounds (45 kg).[citation needed] Native to the Colorado River Basin of the southwestern United States and adjacent Mexico, it was formerly an important food fish for both Native Americans and European settlers. Once abundant and widespread in the basin, its numbers have declined to the point where it has been extirpated from the Mexican part of its range and was listed as endangered in the US part in 1967, a fate shared by the three other large Colorado Basin endemic fish species: bonytail chub, humpback chub, and razorback sucker. The Colorado pikeminnow is currently listed as vulnerable by the IUCN,[1] while its NatureServe conservation status is "critically imperiled".[2]
- ^ a b NatureServe (2020) [errata version of 2013 assessment]. "Ptychocheilus lucius". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2013: e.T18829A174780793. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2013-1.RLTS.T18829A174780793.en. Retrieved 11 November 2021.
- ^ a b NatureServe (2 December 2022). "Ptychocheilus lucius Colorado Pikeminnow". NatureServe Network Biodiversity Location Data. Arlington, Virginia: NatureServe. Retrieved 19 December 2022 – via NatureServe Explorer.
- ^ Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Ptychocheilus lucius". FishBase. October 2006 version.