We examined the intermittent sections of four tributaries to the Sacramento river for the presence of cyprinoids.
Intermittent streams serve as feeding and spawning grounds for many migratory minnows.
Since these stream reaches serve important ecological functions, we can no longer regard them as flood control channels. The importance of intermittent tributaries in the life cycle of fish has generally been overlooked. Although these tributaries may provide a variety of fishes with critical habitat and refugia from floods and predators, little is known about their biotic makeup. In 1990, Moyle stated that the most dramatic declines in aquatic faunas have occurred in western North America. To address this biodiversity loss in California, we must begin to understand the natural history of native fishes.