{"elementGlobalId":106088,"circumscripConfidence":null,"classificationLevel":{"id":8,"classificationLevelNameEn":"Subspecies","classificationLevelNameEs":"Subespecie","classificationLevelNameFr":"Sous-espèce"},"classificationStatus":{"id":1,"classificationStatusDescEn":"Standard","classificationStatusDescEs":"Estándar","classificationStatusDescFr":"Standard"},"iucn":null,"nameCategory":{"id":1,"nameCategoryDescEn":"Vertebrate Animal","nameCategoryDescEs":"Animal vertebrado","nameCategoryDescFr":"Animal vertébré","nameTypeCd":"A","nameTypeDesc":"Zoological"},"rankMethodUsed":null,"formattedScientificName":"<i>Lavinia exilicauda chi</i>","scientificName":"Lavinia exilicauda chi","scientificNameAuthor":"(Hopkirk, 1974)","primaryCommonName":"Clear Lake Hitch","relatedItisNames":null,"uniqueId":"ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.106088","elcode":"AFCJB19011","conceptRefFullCitation":"Moyle, P. B., J. E. Williams, and E. D. Wikramanayake. 1989. Fish species of special concern of California. Final report submitted to California Dept. of Fish and Game, Inland Fisheries Division, Rancho Cordova. 222 pp.","conceptName":"<i>Lavinia exilicauda chi</i>","taxonomicComments":null,"roundedGRank":"T1","conservationStatusFactorsEditionDate":"1996-09-16","conservationStatusFactorsEditionAuthors":"Hopkins, T., P. Moyle, and G. Hammerson","primaryCommonNameLanguage":"EN","recordType":"SPECIES","elementNationals":[{"elementNationalId":168049,"classifConfidence":null,"nation":{"id":225,"nameEn":"United States","nameEs":"Estados Unidos","nameFr":"États-Unis","isoCode":"US","region":"United States"},"roundedNRank":"N1","elementSubnationals":[{"elementSubnationalId":316231,"subnation":{"id":7,"nameEn":"California","nameEs":"California","nameFr":"Californie","subnationCode":"CA","dnationId":225},"roundedSRank":"S1","dataSensitive":{"id":2,"dataSensitiveDescEn":"No","dataSensitiveDescEs":null,"dataSensitiveDescFr":null,"dataSensitiveCode":"N"},"dataSensitiveCategory":null,"srank":"S1","speciesSubnational":{"elementSubnationalId":316231,"hybrid":false,"exotic":false,"native":true}}],"nrankReviewYear":2014,"nrank":"N1","speciesNational":{"elementNationalId":168049,"exotic":false,"native":true}}],"lastModified":"2026-10-02T21:47:30.96119Z","lastPublished":"2026-10-02T21:32:08.892226Z","promotionalDescription":null,"conceptLineageSummary":null,"nsxUrl":"/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.106088/Lavinia_exilicauda_chi","grankAdjustmentReasons":null,"grankChangeDate":"2014-09-17","grankReviewDate":"2014-09-17","grankReasons":"Restricted to a handful of sites in and near Clear Lake, California; threats include loss of nursery habitat and disturbance of spawning grounds.","grank":"G4T1","rankInfo":{"elementGlobalId":106088,"aooPercentGood":null,"enviromentalSpecificity":null,"intrinsicVulnerability":null,"longTermTrend":null,"numberEos":{"id":1,"numberEosDescEn":"1 - 5","numberEosDescEs":"De 1 a 5","numberEosDescFr":"De 1 à 5"},"numberGoodEos":null,"numberProtEos":{"id":1,"numberProtEosDescEn":"None. No occurrences appropriately protected and managed","numberProtEosDescEs":"Ninguno. No hay casos adecuadamente protegidos y gestionados","numberProtEosDescFr":"Aucun. Aucune occurrence protégée et contrôlée convenablement"},"popSize":{"id":33,"popSizeDescEn":"10,000 to >1,000,000 individuals","popSizeDescEs":"De 10.000 a >1.000.000 de individuos","popSizeDescFr":"De 10 000 à >1 000 000 individus"},"rangeExtent":null,"shortTermTrend":{"id":36,"shortTermTrendDescEn":"Decline of 10-30%","shortTermTrendDescEs":"Disminución del 10 al 30%.","shortTermTrendDescFr":"Diminution de 10 à 30 %"},"threatImpactAssigned":null,"rangeExtentComments":"Clear Lake, Lake County, California; also in associated lakes and ponds, including Thurston Lake and Lampson Pond, and tributary streams of Clear Lake (mainly Kelsey, Seigler, Adobe, Middle, Scotts, and Manning creeks). Important spawning streams are Kelsey, Scotts, and Middle creeks, with some spawning occurring also in Manning, Adobe, Cole, and Seigler creeks (Moyle et al. 1989).","areaOfOccupancy":null,"areaOfOccupancyComments":null,"numberEosComments":"Confined to Clear Lake and four small nearby lakes and ponds.","popSizeComments":"Still common. Fished commercially in the past.","viabilityComments":null,"threatImpactComments":"Still common in Clear Lake but populations are diminished due mainly to loss of spawning habitat and loss of nursery areas (Moyle et al. 1989). Water diversions cause streams to dry up earlier than normal, resulting in reproductive failure. Some former spawning areas (e.g., Adobe and Kelsey creeks) are now blocked by roads and other obstructions. Fishes in some spawning areas are destroyed by local people in a \"sport\" called \"hitching.\" Much marshy larval habitat has been lost, and such losses are still occurring. Another threat is the introduced threadfin shad, a plankton eater than may compete with the hitch for food. Very vulnerable to disturbance on spawning grounds.","shortTermTrendComments":"Numbers seem to be declining.","longTermTrendComments":null,"inventoryNeeds":"Annual surveys of spawning runs to determine the abundance of fish.","numberProtEosComments":null,"protectionNeeds":"Protect spawning runs in tributary streams. Remove human-made barriers across spawning streams. Critical habitats (e.g., marshy larval nursery areas) should be identified and protected. Local people should be educated about the importance of the hitch as an endemic and as an important element in the food chain. See Moyle et al. (1989).","otherConsiderations":"May be carrying heavy loads of exotic parasites.","intrinsicVulnerabilityComments":null,"enviromentalSpecificityComments":null},"animalCharacteristics":{"elementGlobalId":106088,"majorHabitat":{"id":2,"majorHabitatDescEn":"Freshwater","majorHabitatDescEs":"Agua dulce","majorHabitatDescFr":"Eau douce"},"nonMigrant":false,"localMigrant":true,"longDistanceMigrant":false,"mobilityMigrationComments":"Migrates between nonbreeding (lake) and breeding (stream) habitats.","foodHabitsComments":"Adults are open-water feeders on zooplankton (almost exclusively DAPHNIA). Juveniles in shallows eat larval and pupal chironomid midges; planktonic crustaceans; and the eggs, larvae, and adults of the Clear Lake gnat (CHAOBORUS ASTICTOPUS). (Moyle et al. 1989).","animalPhenologyComments":"Feeding apparently occurs mainly during daylight hours.","colonialBreeder":false,"length":null,"width":null,"weight":null,"animalPhenologies":[],"animalFoodHabits":[]},"occurrenceDelineations":[{"eoSpecsDetailId":1143,"locationUseClass":{"id":1,"locationUseClassDescEn":"Not applicable","locationUseClassDescEs":"No se aplica","locationUseClassDescFr":"Sans objet","displayOrder":1},"eoSpecGroupName":"Medium Cyprinids","subtypes":null,"inferredExtentDistance":null,"inferredExtentNotes":null,"minimumEoCriteria":"Occurrences are based on evidence of historical presence, or current and likely recurring presence, at a given location. Such evidence minimally includes collection or reliable observation and documentation of one or more individuals (including eggs and larvae) in appropriate habitat.","mappingGuidance":null,"separationBarriers":"Dam lacking a suitable fishway; high waterfall; upland habitat.","separationDistanceUnsuitableHabitatat":15.0,"separationDistanceSuitableHabitatat":15.0,"altSeparationProcedure":null,"separationJustification":"Data on dispersal and other movements generally are not available. In some species, individuals may migrate variable distances between spawning areas and nonspawning habitats.<br><br>Separation distances (in aquatic kilometers) for cyprinids are arbitrary but reflect the presumption that movements and appropriate separation distances generally should increase with fish size. Hence small, medium, and large cyprinids, respectively, have increasingly large separation distances. Separation distance reflects the likely low probability that two occupied locations separated by less than many kilometers of aquatic habitat would represent truly independent populations over the long term.<br><br>Because of the difficulty in defining suitable versus unsuitable habitat, especially with respect to dispersal, and to simplify the delineation of occurrences, a single separation distance is used regardless of habitat quality. <br><br>Occupied locations that are separated by a gap of 15 km or more of any aquatic habitat that is not known to be occupied represent different occurrences. However, it is important to evaluate seasonal changes in habitat to ensure that an occupied habitat occurrence for a particular population does not artificially separate spawning areas and nonspawning areas as different occurrences simply because there have been no collections/observations in an intervening area that may exceed the separation distance.","versionDate":"2004-09-21","versionAuthor":"Hammerson, G.","versionNotes":null,"lastModified":"2020-04-30T02:05:06.176209Z"}],"plantCharacteristics":null,"elementManagement":{"elementGlobalId":106088,"eoManagementGroupName":null,"stewardshipOverview":null,"impacts":null,"restorationPotential":null,"siteConservationPlansConsidered":null,"managementMethods":null,"monitoringMethods":null,"managementProgramContacts":null,"monitoringProgramContacts":null,"managementResearchPrograms":null,"managementResearchNeeds":null,"biologicalResearchNeeds":"Determine spawning requirements, early life history in Clear Lake.","additionalTopics":null},"occurrenceViabilities":[{"eoRankSpecsDetailId":107495,"eoRankSpecsGroupName":null,"locationUseClass":{"id":1,"locationUseClassDescEn":"Not applicable","locationUseClassDescEs":"No se aplica","locationUseClassDescFr":"Sans objet","displayOrder":1},"excellentViability":null,"goodViability":null,"fairViability":null,"poorViability":null,"viabilityJustification":"Use the Generic Guidelines for the Application of Occurrence Ranks (2008).<br>The Key for Ranking Species Occurrences Using the Generic Approach provides a step-wise process for implementing this method.","versionDate":null,"versionAuthor":null,"versionNotes":null,"lastModified":"2020-05-14T02:30:34.623053Z"}],"references":[{"id":155856,"citation":"Geary, R. E., and P. B. Moyle. 1980. Aspects of the ecology of the hitch, LAVINIA EXILICAUDA (Cyprinidae), a persistent native cyprinid in Clear Lake, California. Southwest. Nat. 25:385-390.","shortCitationAuthor":"Geary and Moyle","shortCitationYear":1980,"referenceCode":"A80GEA01NAUS","lastModified":"2020-02-25T18:26:29.55143Z"},{"id":131527,"citation":"Moyle, P. B., J. E. Williams, and E. D. Wikramanayake. 1989. Fish species of special concern of California. Final report submitted to California Dept. of Fish and Game, Inland Fisheries Division, Rancho Cordova. 222 pp.","shortCitationAuthor":"Moyle et al.","shortCitationYear":1989,"referenceCode":"R89MOY01NAUS","lastModified":"2024-04-05T22:15:48.962378Z"},{"id":672870,"citation":"Page, L. M., and B. M. Burr. 2011. Peterson field guide to freshwater fishes of North America north of Mexico. Second edition. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Boston. xix + 663 pp.","shortCitationAuthor":"Page and Burr","shortCitationYear":2011,"referenceCode":"B11PAG01NAUS","lastModified":"2020-02-25T14:38:12.158121Z"},{"id":1114311,"citation":"U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). 2020. Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Eleven Species Not Warranted for Listing as Endangered or Threatened Species. Federal Register 85(233):78029-78038.","shortCitationAuthor":"USFWS","shortCitationYear":2020,"referenceCode":"N20FWS33NAUS","lastModified":"2022-06-04T02:16:32.053833Z"},{"id":1132439,"citation":"U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). 2023. National Listing Workplan. Online. Available: https://www.fws.gov/project/national-listing-workplan","shortCitationAuthor":"USFWS","shortCitationYear":2023,"referenceCode":"N23FWS20HQUS","lastModified":"2023-10-06T21:51:12.565113Z"},{"id":1149432,"citation":"U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). 2025. Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Threatened Species Status With Section 4(d) Rule for Clear Lake Hitch. Federal Register 90(10):4916-4941.","shortCitationAuthor":"USFWS","shortCitationYear":2025,"referenceCode":"N25FWS07NAUS","lastModified":"2025-01-31T23:01:34.258698Z"}],"otherCommonNames":[],"speciesGlobal":{"elementGlobalId":106088,"cites":null,"cosewic":null,"fwsRegion":null,"genusSize":{"id":2,"genusSizeDescEn":"Very small genus","genusSizeDescEs":"Un género muy pequeño","genusSizeDescFr":"Très petit genre"},"jurisEndem":{"id":1,"jurisEndemDescEn":"endemic to a single state or province","jurisEndemDescEs":"Endémico de un estado o provincia","jurisEndemDescFr":"Endémique à un État ou à une province"},"nomenclaturallyEst":null,"usesa":{"id":4,"usesaDescEn":"Proposed threatened","usesaDescEs":"Propuesto como amenazado","usesaDescFr":"Suggestion d'espèce menacée","usesaCode":"PT"},"informalTaxonomy":{"informalTaxonomyId":9,"level1":"Animals","level2":"Vertebrates","level3":"Fishes - Freshwater and Anadromous Bony, Cartilaginous; Lampreys","level":3,"hasChildren":false,"parentId":2,"distributionStatus":"complete","displayOrder":1120},"parentSpecies":{"parentSpeciesId":101985,"uniqueId":"ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.101985","formattedScientificName":"<i>Lavinia exilicauda</i>","scientificName":"Lavinia exilicauda","primaryCommonName":"Hitch","lastModified":"2020-02-25T18:26:29.55143Z","nsxUrl":"/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.101985/Lavinia_exilicauda"},"infraspecies":true,"kingdom":"Animalia","phylum":"Craniata","taxclass":"Actinopterygii","taxorder":"Cypriniformes","family":"Leuciscidae","genus":"Lavinia","americanFisheriesStatus":null,"americanFisheriesStatusDate":null,"saraStatus":null,"saraStatusDate":null,"cosewicDate":null,"interpretedCosewic":null,"cosewicComments":null,"usesaDate":"2025-01-16","interpretedUsesa":null,"usesaComments":"Proposed threatened by USFWS (2025).","completeDistribution":true,"synonyms":[],"infraspeciesList":[],"ebarId":null,"ebarCanadianScope":false,"ebarGlobalScope":false,"ebarKbaGroup":"Fishes","caGeneralStatusId":null},"speciesCharacteristics":{"elementGlobalId":106088,"reproductionComments":"Spawning migrations occur March-July; spawns usually after heavy rains; eggs hatch in about 7 days; larvae emerge from gravel after about another 7 days, then move downstream, avoiding stream drying; females sexually mature by 2nd or 3rd year, males by 1st or 2nd year (Moyle et al. 1989).","ecologyComments":"High productivity and warm waters of Clear Lake allow rapid growth. May be important as forage for osprey (Moyle et al. 1989).","habitatComments":"Individuals over 80 days old (4-5 cm SL) usually are in the limnetic zone of Clear Lake; juveniles occupy near-shore shallow waters with protective aquatic vegetation (Moyle et al. 1989). Spawns over clean, fine to medium gravel (in which eggs become lodged), at temperatures of 14-18 C, in lower reaches of intermittent tributary streams, mostly in sections that dry up in summer (Moyle et al. 1989).","generalDescription":null,"diagnosticCharacteristics":null,"speciesMarineHabitats":[],"speciesTerrestrialHabitats":[],"speciesRiverineHabitats":[{"cagRiverineHabId":-105176,"riverineHabitat":{"id":3,"riverineHabitatDescEn":"CREEK","riverineHabitatDescEs":"ARROYO","riverineHabitatDescFr":"RUISSEAU","displayOrder":3}},{"cagRiverineHabId":-105177,"riverineHabitat":{"id":6,"riverineHabitatDescEn":"Moderate gradient","riverineHabitatDescEs":"Pendiente de flujo medio","riverineHabitatDescFr":"Pente d’écoulement moyenne","displayOrder":6}}],"speciesPalustrineHabitats":[],"speciesLacustrineHabitats":[{"cagLacusHabId":-100793,"lacustrineHabitat":{"id":1,"lacustrineHabitatDescEn":"Deep water","lacustrineHabitatDescEs":"Aguas profundas","lacustrineHabitatDescFr":"Eau profonde","displayOrder":1}},{"cagLacusHabId":-100794,"lacustrineHabitat":{"id":2,"lacustrineHabitatDescEn":"Shallow water","lacustrineHabitatDescEs":"Aguas poco profundas","lacustrineHabitatDescFr":"Eau peu profonde","displayOrder":2}}],"speciesSubterraneanHabitats":[],"speciesEstuarineHabitats":[]},"primaryReference":{"id":131527,"citation":"Moyle, P. B., J. E. Williams, and E. D. Wikramanayake. 1989. Fish species of special concern of California. Final report submitted to California Dept. of Fish and Game, Inland Fisheries Division, Rancho Cordova. 222 pp.","shortCitationAuthor":"Moyle et al.","shortCitationYear":1989,"referenceCode":"R89MOY01NAUS","lastModified":"2024-04-05T22:15:48.962378Z"},"predecessors":[],"elementGlobalThreatAssessments":[]}