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<br />eddies formed downstream of debris fans (Valdez and RyeI1995). In larger rivers of the Upper Colorado <br />River Basin humpback chub were found in relatively deep (mean =10.3 ft) and slow velocity (mean <br />=0.6fi1sec) water. Karp and Tyus (1990) and additional data presented in this study suggested that <br />humpback chub in the Yampa River use low velocity habitats near shore. Humpback chub used deeper <br />habitats when available, however, during baseflow periods the abundance of deep-water habitat declines, <br />fish are capable of using shallower habitats. <br /> <br />Colorado pikeminnow and humpback chub are members of the native fish community of the Colorado <br />River Basin. The following sections describe other members of the Yampa River fish community, both <br />native and nonnative. These fishes are dependent on the primary and secondary production present in the <br />river. The remainder of the this chapter describes habitat associations and diet of select native and <br />nonnative fishes to provide a context for interpreting radio telemetry data for the Colorado pikeminnow <br />and humpback chub. <br /> <br />Other native fishes <br /> <br />Native fish species present in the potamon reaches of the Yampa River include flannelmouth sucker <br />Catostomus latipinnis, bluehead sucker Catostomus discobolus, roundtail chub Gila robusta, and <br />speckled dace Rhinichthys osculus. All of these species are potential prey for the Colorado pikeminnow. <br />In a recent study, the Colorado Division of Wildlife made population estimates at two sites on the Yampa <br />River in September 1998. The native fish component comprised 71% of the fish over 15 cm caught <br />downstream of Sunbeam (RN60-64), but were only 14% of the catch at Duffy Tunnel (RM 104.5-110.0) <br />(Anderson, in press). <br /> <br />Historic distribution of the tlannelmouth sucker included medium to large streams throughout the upper <br />and lower Colorado River basin (Joseph et al. 1977; Arizona Game and Fish 1996). Currently <br />flannelmouth sucker populations in the lower basin have been reduced and restricted to areas of suitable <br />habitat (Minckley 1985). In the upper basin this species still persists in much of its original range <br />(Holden and Stalnaker 1975); however, flannelmouth sucker populations have become lost or depleted in <br />areas that are influenced by impoundments (Chart and Bergesen 1992). Flannelmouth suckers remain <br />common in the upper basin in medium to large streams with natural temperature and flow regimes. <br />Carlson et al. (1979) reported that flannelmouth suckers composed between 12.5% and 53.7% of the total <br />fish captured from July 1975 through October 1977 at six sites on the Yampa River between Dinosaur <br />National Monument and the town of Hayden, Colorado. The percent composition offlannelmouth <br />sucker, for all fish over 15 cm, was estimated to be 37% downstream of Sunbeam (RM 60-64) and 7 <br /> <br />32 <br />