Laserfiche WebLink
<br />15 <br /> <br />shorelines) were commonly available throughout the Upper Basin (Tyus and <br />Karp 1989; Osmundson and Kaeding 1991). The absence of these seasonally <br />flooded riverine habitats is believed to be a limiting factor in the <br />successful recruitment of razorback suckers in their native environment (Tyus <br />and Karp 1989; Osmundson and Kaeding 1991). Tyus (1987) and McAda and Wydoski <br />(1980) reported springtime aggregations of razorback suckers in off-channel <br />impoundments and tributaries; such aggregations are believed to be associated <br />with reproductive activities. Tyus and Karp (1990) and Osmundson and Kaeding <br />(1991) reported off-channel habitats to be much warmer than the main stem <br />river and that razorback suckers presumably moved to these areas for feeding, <br />resting, sexual maturation, spawning, and other activities associated with <br />their reproductive cycle. While razorback suckers have never been directly <br />observed spawning in turbid riverine environments within the Upper Basin, <br />captures of ripe specimens, both males and females, have been recorded <br />(Valdez et al. 1982; McAda and Wydoski 1980; Tyus 1987; Osmundson and <br />Kaeding 1989; Tyus and Karp 1989; Tyus and Karp 1990; Osmundson and <br />Kaeding 1991; Platania 1990) in the Yampa, Green. Colorado, and San Juan <br />Rivers. Sexually mature razorback suckers are generally collected on the <br />ascending limb of the hydrograph from mid-April through June and are <br />associated with coarse gravel substrates (depending on the specific location). <br /> <br />Outside of the spawning season, adult razorback suckers occupy a variety of <br />shoreline and main channel habitats including low runs, shallow to deep pools. <br />backwaters, eddies, and other relatively slow velocity areas associated with <br />sand substrates (Tyus 1987; Tyus and Karp 1989; Osmundson and Kaeding 1989; <br />Valdez and Masslich 1989; Osmundson and Kaeding 1991; Tyus and Karp 1990). <br /> <br />Habitat requirements of young and juvenile razorback suckers in the wild are <br />not well known, particularly in native riverine environments. Prior to 1991, <br />the last confirmed documentation of razorback sucker juvenile in the Upper <br />Basin was a capture in the Colorado River near Moab, Utah (Taba et al. 1965). <br />In 1991, two early juvenile (36.6 and 39.3 mm TL) razorback suckers were <br />collected in the lower Green River near Hell Roaring Canyon (Gutermuth et al. <br />1994). Juveniles razorback suckers have been collected in recent years from <br />Old Charley Wash. a wetland adjacent to the Green River (Modde 1996). Between <br />1992 and 1995 larval razorback suckers were collected in the middle and lower <br />Green River and within the Colorado River inflow to Lake Powell (Muth 1995). <br /> <br />Razorback Sucker Activity in the IS-mile Reach <br /> <br />Osmundson and Kaeding (1989) found that 76 percent of the 70 razorback suckers <br />captured in the Colorado River between 1979 and 1985 were captured in the <br />Grand Valley area. Results of surveys conducted during May and June of <br />