Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Units Program: Oklahoma
Education, Research and Technical Assistance for Managing Our Natural Resources

Yaqui Catfish is a federally-threatened species, extirpated from in its native range in the wild in the US, and threatened in the remainder of its range in the Yaqui, Mayo, and Fuerte river basins of Mexico. The Rio Yaqui drainage basin is the largest of the three basins and is the only shared basin between the two countries where Yaqui Catfish occur. A major threat to Yaqui Catfish is hybridization with non-native Ictalurid species, particularly Channel Catfish , that have been stocked. Using existing data and surveys of eDNA samples, occurrences of Yaqui Catfish and non-native Channel Catfish will be overlaid on GIS coverages of hydrology, physiography, and land-use available from US and Mexico sources and modeled for relationships using occupancy models.