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<br />increase survivorship of the translocated fish. It is hypothesized that by moving fish <br />higher up in the watershed, they will be retained longer in the LCR, have more time for <br />growth, and nave a greater chance for survival. <br /> <br />Background <br /> <br />The habitat above Chute Falls is most likely within the historic range of numpback chub. <br />Skeletal remains of Colorado pikeminnow, razorback sucker, bony tail, and humpback <br />chub have been recovered from the Homol'ovi archaeological ruins near Winslow, <br />Arizona (Strand 1998). Miller (1963) reported catches of Colorado pikeminnow and <br />bony tails (G. elegans) at the base of Grand Falls in the early 1900s (-120 km above the <br />LCR confluence). These reports suggest that a historic native fish community was well <br />established in the LCR above Chute Falls. Until the translocation of humpback chub <br />above Chute Falls in 2003, the only native species known to recently exist between <br />Chute Falls and Blue Springs (at 21 km) was the speckled dace (Rhinichthys osculus). <br />Non-native fish that been captured or observed include carp, fathead minnow (Kaeding <br />and Zimmerman 1983), plains killifish, red shiner, black bullhead, channel catfish, <br />rainbow trout, and green sunfish (Stone and Sponholtz, 2003). The reason humpback <br />chub were not formerly found in recent studies above Chute Falls is unknown. Chute <br />Falls may have been a physical barrier (Robinson et al. 1996), which implies that if <br />humpback chub were historically above Chute Falls, local extinction occurred (e.g., <br />environmental stochasticity) and the species was unable to successfully re-colonize. <br /> <br />The recent translocation results (Stone and Sponholtz 2003) thus far suggest that there <br />is suitable habitat available for humpback chub to persist above Chute Falls. The <br />region is characterized by pool, riffle and run ,habitat; densely abundant algal <br />communities (particularly during extended periods of base flow); and an abundant prey <br />source (Le., aquatic invertebrates and speckled dace). Robinson et al. (1996) <br />concluded that neither food nor water chemistry were factors that should preclude <br />humpback chub from above Chute Falls. <br /> <br />Potential risks of the Chute Falls translocation <br /> <br />The translocation effort has potential for establishing a reproductively isolated <br />population of humpback chub above Chute Falls. This holds some potential genetic <br />implications. First, since humpback chub apparently did not formerly reside above <br />Chute Falls, this suggests that gene flow (by natural means) from the main LCR <br />population to the founder population will be zero. Offspring from the translocated fish <br />will have only one direction to go (downstream). Even when numerous individuals are <br />translocated, bottlenecks may occur early in population establishment, leading to <br />reduced genetic diversity (Stockwell et al. 1996). <br /> <br />Second, if the effort is not continued, the founder population will consist of < 600 fish <br />(Le., some will not survive the translocations). Since the translocated fish are small (50 <br />to 100 mm), there is no ability to determine sex of the individuals. This means a <br />possibility to transfer unequal sex ratio. In the best-case scenario, if all 600 fish survive <br /> <br />36 <br />