To conserve the Zuni bluehead sucker, whose distribution rangewide has been reduced by over 90 percent in the last 20 years, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) is proposing to list the Zuni bluehead sucker as an endangered species under the Endangered Species Act. The service has also identified and is proposing to designate approximately 293 miles of stream habitat as critical for the species. The critical habitat is being proposed on lands primarily owned by Forest Service, State of New Mexico, Navajo Nation, and Zuni Pueblo.
The Zuni bluehead sucker, a candidate for listing since 2001, has been found in San Juan, McKinley, and Cibola counties in New Mexico; and Apache County in eastern Arizona inhabiting stream reaches with clean, perennial water flows. Threats include water withdrawals, sedimentation, impoundments, housing development, and predation by nonnative green sunfish.
The Service is opening a 60 day comment period for peer review and public input on these two proposals and will accept comments received or postmarked on or before March 26, 2013. Comments may be submitted by one of the following methods:
(1) Electronically: Go to the Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. In the Search box, enter FWS–R2–ES–2012–0101 (for the listing proposal) or FWS–R2–ES–2013–0002 (for the critical habitat proposal), which are the docket numbers for these rulemakings. Then, in the Search panel on the left side of the screen, under the Document Type heading, click on the Proposed Rules link to locate this document. You may submit a comment by clicking on “Comment Now!”
(2) By hard copy: Submit by U.S. mail or hand-delivery to: Public Comments Processing, Attn: FWS–R2–ES–2012–0101 or FWS–R2–ES–2013–0002; Division of Policy and Directives Management; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; 4401 N. Fairfax Drive, MS 2042–PDM; Arlington, VA 22203.
The Zuni bluehead sucker has a torpedo-shaped, slender body with a mouth below and slightly behind the tip of the snout. Most individuals do not exceed 8 inches in total length. The Zuni bluehead sucker has a bluish head, silvery-tan to dark green back, and yellowish to silvery-white sides and abdomen. Adults are mottled slate-gray to almost black on the upper part of the body and cream-white underneath toward the abdomen. Most specimens were found in water that was 12 to 20 inches deep, with cobble, boulders, and bedrock substrate. Zuni bluehead suckers feed primarily on algae scraped from rocks, rubble, and gravel substrates.