Fishes

Because of our complicated geological history and challenging aquatic environments, California has a relatively small number of freshwater fishes, including 66 native freshwater, estuarine or anadromous species (Moyle 2002). Nonetheless, this small number of species has huge impact in many ways on the state.  According to Moyle (2002), the Central Valley has 28 native species, 40 introduced species for a total of 68 species of fishes. Of those, 8 are at risk of extinction and 3 already are extinct.  The following table is modified from Table 1 in Moyle (2002).  CA=found in California; Regional=located in the 2d (Sacramento-San Joaquin Zoogeographic Province); Campus=likely to be seen near campus in the Lower American River. (codes: N=Native, E=Extinct Native, I=Introduced, ?=uncertain status, 0=occasional marine visitor (not counted), *=at risk of extinction

	Species	CA	Regional	Central Valley	Campus
	.			n=native, I=intro
	Pacific lamprey	CA	SJ	N	CSUS
	Pit-Klamath brook lamprey	CA	SJ		n
	River lamprey	CA	SJ	N	CSUS
	Kern brook lamprey	CA	SJ	N	n
	Western brook lamprey	CA	SJ		n
	Klamath River lamprey	CA
	White sturgeon	CA	SJ	N	n
	Green sturgeon	CA	SJ	N*	n
	American shad			I	CSUS
	Threadfin shad			I
	Common carp			I
	Goldfish			I
	Golden shiner			I
	Tui chub	CA	SJ	I
	Thicktail chub	CA	SJ	E
	Blue chub	CA
	Arroyo chub	CA
	Bonytail	CA
	Lahontan redside	CA	SJ*	I
	Red shiner			I
	Fathead minnow			I
	Hitch	CA	SJ	N*
	California roach	CA	SJ	N
	Sacramento blackfish	CA	SJ	N
	Sacramento splittail	CA	SJ	N*
	Clear Lake splittail	CA	SJ
	Hardhead	CA		N
	Sacramento pikeminnow	CA		N	CSUS
	Colorado pikeminnow	CA
	Speckled dace	CA		N
	Mountain sucker	CA		I
	Santa Ana sucker	CA
	Sacramento sucker	CA		N	CSUS
	Modoc sucker	CA
	Tahoe sucker	CA
	Owens sucker	CA
	Klamath largescale sucker	CA
	Klamath smallscale sucker	CA
	Lost River sucker	CA
	Shortnose sucker	CA
	Razorback sucker	CA
	Flannelmouth sucker	CA
	Blue catfish			I
	Channel catfish			I
	White catfish			I
	Brown bullhead			I
	Black bullhead			I
	Delta smelt	CA		N*
	Wakasagi			I
	Longfin smelt	CA		N*
	Eulachon	CA
	Coho salmon	CA		E
	Chinook salmon	CA		N	CSUS
	Kokanee			I
	Pink salmon	CA
	Chum salmon	CA
	Rainbow trout/Steelhead trout	CA		N	CSUS
	Cutthroat trout	CA		I
	Brown trout			I
	Brook trout			I
	Lake trout			I
	Bull trout	CA		E
	Rainwater killifish			I
	Western Mosquitofish			I	CSUS
	Striped mullet	CA
	Topsmelt	CA		0
	California killifish	CA
	Inland silverside			I
	Desert pupfish	CA
	Owens pupfish	CA
	Amaragosa pupfish	CA
	Salt Creek pupfish	CA
	Threespine stickleback	CA		N
	Prickly sculpin	CA		N	CSUS
	Coastrange sculpin	CA
	Riffle sculpin	CA		N
	Pit sculpin	CA		?
	Reticulate sculpin	CA
	Marbled sculpin	CA
	Paiute sculpin	CA
	Rough sculpin	CA
	Striped bass			I	CSUS
	White bass			I
	Sacramento perch	CA		N	?
	Black crappie			I
	White crappie			I
	Warmouth			I
	Green sunfish			I
	Bluegill			I
	Pumpkinseed			I
	Redear sunfish			I
	Largemouth bass			I	CSUS
	Spotted bass			I
	Smallmouth bass			I
	Redeye bass			I
	Yellow perch			I
	Bigscale logperch			I
	Tule perch	CA		N	CSUS
	Shiner perch	CA		0
	Tidewater goby	CA		E
	Longjaw mudsucker	CA		0
	Starry flounder	CA		N

Where to see fishes

There are several good locations for seeing fishes in the Lower American River, including some right on campus. If you walk out on the Guy West bridge and look down, at the right time of the year, you can see Chinook salmon and steelhead/rainbow trout swimming up and down the river.

The American River Parkway runs adjacent to the Lower American River and there are many spots to look at the river such as the Howe Avenue Access Point. I have seen Mosquitofish in the shallow pool right there. You can also see fish by swimming or snorkeling, and possibly while kayaking or paddle-boarding.  However, BE VERY CAREFUL: currents in the American River can be extremely dangerous. ALWAYS wear a life-jacket or floatation device, even if you think you are a fantastic swimmer. People drown every year in the American River who think that they are great swimmers.  You simply cannot fight the current. If you do find yourself caught in a current, go with the current, i.e., downstream, angling towards the shore. NEVER try to swim upstream or directly to the shore; you will get too tired, too soon.

Resources

Moyle, P.B. (2002) Inland Fishes of California. Revised and Expanded Edition. University of California Press, Berkeley, California.