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<br />percent 50 miles upstream near Duffy Tunnel (Anderson, in press). Flannelmouth suckers in the Yampa <br />River are known to hybridize with bluehead sucker and white sucker (Carlson et al. 1979). Determining <br />age by scale analysis indicated that flannelmouth sucker can reach at least 10 years of age in the Yampa <br />River (Carlson et al. 1979). <br /> <br />Flannelmouth suckers utilize several different habitats and feeding strategies during various life stages. <br />Young flannel mouth suckers are often associated with backwaters, slow runs or pools (Holden and <br />Stalnaker 1975; Joseph et al. 1977). Adults occupy pools and eddies in larger streams, but will often <br />move into shallow riffles to feed between rocks (Joseph et al. 1977). Carlson et al. (1979) found <br />flannelmouth suckers using a wide range of habitat and substrate types on the Yampa River; however, <br />these fish seemed to prefer relatively shallow water with sand or small cobble substrates. Joseph et al. <br />(1977) suggested that larvae of flannelmouth suckers feed primarily on crustaceans and other small <br />aquatic invertebrates. As these fish get older their diet consists primarily of bottom materials including <br />organic debris, algae, and invertebrates (Joseph et al. 1977; Arizona Game and Fish 1996). Gut samples <br />from tlannelmouth suckers collected from the Yampa River during August and September 1975 contained <br />mostly periphytoll (algae) and a few invertebrates (Carlson et al. 1979). <br /> <br />The bluehead sucker is native to streams in the Upper Colorado River basin (Joseph et al. 1977). Vanicek <br />et al. (1970) reported that the bluehead sucker was common within the canyon section of the Green River <br />in Dinosaur National Monument. Holden and Stalnaker (1975) found the bluehead sucker "common" to <br />"abundant" at sample locations at the Yam pa, Gunnison, and middle to upper Green and Colorado Rivers. <br />Between July 1975 and October 1977 bluehead suckers composed 7.8% to 28.0% of the fish collections <br />in the Yampa River between Dinosaur National Monument and the town of Hayden, Colorado (Carlson et <br />al. 1979). The bluehead sucker also hybridized with white and tlannelmouth suckers in the Yampa River. <br /> <br />Adult bluehead suckers exhibit a strong use of specific habitat types (Holden and Stalnaker 1975). This <br />species typically occurs in runs or riffles with rock or gravel substrates (Vanicek 1967; Holden and <br />Stalnaker 1975; Carlson et al. 1979). Juvenile bluehead suckers occur in slower water than adults, and <br />juveniles have been collected from shallow riffles, backwaters, and eddies with silt or gravel substrates <br />(Vanicek 1967). The percent composition of bluehead sucker, for all fish over 15 dm, was estimated to be <br />27% downstream of Sunbeam (RM 60-64) and 5 percent 50 miles upstream near Duffy Tunnel <br />(Anderson, in press). <br /> <br />33 <br />