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The Rio Fuerte drains 33,835 km" of the Sierra Madre Occidental of the Mexican states of Chihuahua, Sinaloa, Durango, and Sonora. Its tributaries pass through of Barranca del Cobre (Copper Canyon) as they drop from headwaters as high as 2,808 m above sea level to the Mar de Cortés (Gulf of California). Its headwaters interdigitate closely with east-flowing tributaries of the Rio Conchos, an important tributary of the Rio Bravo (Grande), and interior drainages of Chihuahua and Durango, such as the Rio Nazas. The Fuerte shares its fish fauna with these neighboring drainages, and has no endemics. Northernmost tributaries are relatively arid, but southern tributaries drain sub-tropical areas with much higher rainfall. Dams and diversions now block movements of many marine fish species that used to move far upstream, and more are in construction or planned. Large river fish habitats at lower elevations have …