Copco Lake
Map SatelliteThis storage reservoir on the Klamath River is one of the few lakes where the endangered species, the Shortnose sucker, Chasmistes brevirostris, and the Lost River sucker, Catostomus luxatus, are found. They were first reported from this area in 1956. Both species are also found in the Klamath Lakes drainage.
Recently, collections have shown that unhybridized populations of both fish occur only in Clear Lake and several of its drainage streams.
Integrity: The lakeshore is privately owned and there is a camping area and store at the south end. Lakeside land is for sale as vacation-retirement home sites. Sedimentation is occurring in the lake.
Use: Present
Ref: Coots, M., 1965. Occurrences of the Lost River Sucker, Deltistes luxatus (Cope), and Short-nose Sucker, Chasmistes brevirostris (Cope), in Northern California. California Fish and Game, Vol. 51, No. 2, p. 68-73.
March 1975
Inventory of California Natural Areas
Revision © 2009 Steven Louis Hartman