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<br />! <br /> <br />21 <br /> <br />spring. Bulkley and Pimentel (1983) reported that razarback suckers preferred <br />temperatures of about 22-25 'c and avoided temperatures of 8-15 'C. Razorback <br />sucker eggs taken in the Green River experienced poor hatching at 11 'c due to <br />fungus, but hatching was successful (80 percent or more) when incubated at <br />20 'c (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, unpublished data). Harsh (1985) noted <br />optimal hatch in razorback sucker larvae incubated at 20 .c, but historic <br />water temperatures in the upper Green River at Jensen did not average 20 'c <br />until June-July (Smith and Green 1991). Thus, required spawning and <br />incubatian temperatures .of razorback sucker are not well understood and <br />continue to be studied. <br /> <br />Larval and Juvenile <br /> <br />The capture and artificial spawning of ripe razorback suckers in the lower <br />Yampa and upper Green Rivers (Severson et al. 1990) and the tentative <br />identification of larvae in upper Green River seine collectians (R.T. Huth and <br />D. Snyder, pers. comm.) suggests that razorback suckers reproduce <br />successfully, but there is little recruitment there or elsewhere in the <br />Colorado River 8asin (Halden 1978; HcAda and Wydoski 1980; Hinckley 1983; Tyus <br />1987; Marsh and Hinckley 1989; Tyus and Karp 1990). The existing standing <br />crops of razorback sucker in the Green River are presumably old fish (Hinckley <br />et al., in prep.) that were spawned in the mid-1960's. <br /> <br />The apparent lack .of widespread recruitment in razarback sucker was attributed <br />to habitat alteration, such as lower water temperatures (Marsh 1985) and <br />predatian by intraduced common carp (Cvorinus caroio), green sunfish, channel <br />catfish, flathead catfish (Pvladictus alivaris), and other nonnative fish <br />(Minckley 1983; 8roaks et al. 1985; Tyus 1987; Marsh and Langhorst 1988; Marsh <br />and Minckley 1989). Predation by nonnative fish is believed a serious threat <br />to the survival and recovery efforts of razorback sucker. The absence of <br />young fish in the Green River basin population also may be linked with the <br />reduced availability of inundated shorelines due to curtailment of spring <br />flooding. Naturally inundated lowlands, such as Old Charley Wash and the <br />Stewart Lake area, that were readily accessible to razorback suckers in the <br />spring are now less accessible due ta blockage and law water levels following <br />closure of Flaming Gorge Dam. <br /> <br />Habitat requirements of this species in riverine enviranments are nat well <br />known because of the scarcity .of extant populations (Minckley 1983; Lanigan <br />and Tyus 1989) and the absence of younger life history stages (McCarthy and <br />Minckley 1987; Tyus 1987)~' Adult razorback suckers in the Green River basin <br />are .old individuals (Tyus 1987; Minckley et al., in prep.) and the low number <br />of reproducing razorback suckers is considered limiting (Lanigan and Tyus <br />1989; Tyus and Karp 1990). Nonnative fish, high spring flows, warming river <br />temperatures, and inundated shorelines and bottomlands all appear as factors <br />that influence successful reproduction and recruitment in razorback sucker. <br />