This chub is native to the drainage of the Willamette River in Oregon. It was once distributed throughout the drainage in shallow water habitat, but changes in the hydrology of the region have eliminated much of this habitat and restricted the chub to several streams and rivers. Dams and channels were constructed and non-native species of fish were introduced to the area. The chub was listed as endangered in 1993 and downlisted to threatened in 2010.
In early 2014, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said that the small, silver-speckled minnow would become the first fish to be taken off the endangered species list when its numbers returned from fewer than 1,000 individuals to an estimated 160,000. It was delisted on February 17, 2015 with populations of more than 140,000 in 80 different locations.
Article text: Wikipedia contributors, Oregon chub (source revision). Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Retrieved 2026-10-11.
Diet and feeding
The FishTraits compilation records these diet categories for this species: invertebrates or larval fish. These are broad categories, not a claim that every individual consumes every example in a category.
Reported feeding positions include bottom feeding and surface or water-column feeding. The compilation combines published observations; diets can vary with age, locality, and available food.
Habitat preferences
Reported habitat associations include streams and small rivers, still-water habitats.
The source records associations with sand, gravel, vegetation. An association indicates reported use, rather than an exclusive requirement.
Reproduction and parental care
The compilation reports a representative maturity age of 1 years. Its maturity field summarizes mean, median, or modal estimates, usually for females; male estimates can be used when female data are unavailable. It is not a fixed age at which every fish first breeds.
Recorded spawning months are May, Jun, Jul for the source’s reporting region (OR). This is a regional calendar, not a range-wide schedule.
The reproductive-guild classification includes spawning on open substrates without guarding the brood.
Size and recorded longevity
FishTraits reports a maximum total length of 9 centimetres. Some entries use an estimated asymptotic length; this value should not be treated as a certified record catch.
Recorded longevity in the compilation is 2 years. Wild observations were preferred, but captive records were accepted where wild records were unavailable, and unspecified records were assumed wild. The value is not a guaranteed wild lifespan or an aquarium life expectancy.
