Pantosteus virescens

The American Fisheries Society (Page et al. 2023) follows Unmack et al. (2014) in recognizing Pantosteus virescens as distinct from P. discobolus. Divergent mtDNA, morphological differences, and phylogenomic analyses support the recognition of these two species (Chen and Mayden 2012, Unmack et al. 2014, Bangs et al. 2018). Unmack et al. (2014) also note that the distribution of P. virescens is consistent with that of other species in the Bonneville Basin and Upper Snake River: multiple connections existed between the Bonneville Basin and the Upper Snake River in the late Pleistocene with several fish species being exchanged at that time (Hubbs and Miller 1948).

Unmack et al. (2014) elevated the subgenus Pantosteus to generic status based on a comparison of molecular, morphological, and paleontological data. Page et al. (2023) accepted this elevation, but others (e.g., Bangs et al. 2018) retain as a subgenus pending additional morphological and molecular analyses.

Pantosteus discobolus, P. virescens, P. clarkii, P. santaanae and P. plebeius form a clade diagnosed by mtDNA as well as morphological traits (Smith et al. 2013).

Catostomus (Pantosteus) virescens was based on a type specimen said to be from the San Juan drainage in Colorado, but Snyder (1924) concluded that the type locality was mislabeled and P. virescens was identical to specimens that he collected from the Weber River, Utah, and the Bear River, Wyoming, both tributary to the northern Bonneville Basin.