The razorback sucker (Xyrauchen texanus) is a suckerfish found in rivers and lakes in the southwestern United States and formerly northwestern Mexico.

In March 2014, in an effort to find out more about this wild population, nine tagged adult razorback sucker were released into the River Colorado below the Lava Falls.

[3] In spring 2014 a new search for reproduction of the fish at Grand Canyon National Park resulted in the first finding of larvae for several decades.

[9]: 35711  While larval fish are found in other areas, indicative of successful spawning, recruitment (survival to adulthood) is not sufficient or even absent due to predation.

Non-native predators of the razorback sucker include striped bass and flathead catfish in the Lower Colorado Basin and smallmouth bass, northern pike and walleye in the Upper Colorado Basin, with channel catfish present in the San Juan River subbasin.

Spawning occurs in late winter or spring when groups of razorbacks settle to the riverbed and release their gametes.

Razorback suckers inhabit a diversity of areas from mainstream channels to backwaters of medium and large streams or rivers.

Since 2012, special spring releases from Flaming Gorge Dam have been timed to coincide with the presence of larval razorback sucker in the Green River.

These flows mimic a more natural hydrograph and allow larval razorback sucker to access off channel wetlands as nursery habitat.

[12] These dam operations have proven successful with razorback sucker in wetlands regularly surviving past the larval stage and migrating back to the Green River.

Subsequent encounters of fish tagged while emigrating from wetlands have documented limited recruitment to the adult population by wild spawned razorback sucker.