The Animas River is famous as a Gold Medal trout stream, but it is also home to native fish that have survived the river’s floods and droughts for thousands of years. These fish evolved to have the ability to live through the annual torrent of water during the spring runoff and the droughts that sometimes reduce rivers to a trickle.
Many of these fish even survived the ash and debris flows from the 416 Fire that blackened the Animas River in 2018. They also reproduce naturally in the river that has been polluted by acid-mine drainage for more than 100 years. The three primary native fish in the Animas River include the bluehead sucker, the flannelmouth sucker and the roundtail chub.
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