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<br />Bluehead suckers feed by scraping periphyton from rocks (Joseph et al. 1977). The mouthparts of the <br />bluehead sucker and other sucker species in the subgenus Pantosteus are specifically adapted for scraping <br />algae from rocks (Sigler and MiJler 1963; Joseph et al. 1977). Vanicek (1967) found that gut samples <br />from bluehead suckers from the Green River contained mud, filamentous algae, and chironomid larvae. <br />Carlson et al. (1979) reported that gut samples from bluehead suckers in the Yampa River contained <br />mostly periphyton and a few invertebrates during August and September 1975. <br /> <br />Young bluehead suckers are eaten by piscivorous species. Piscivorous fishes that feed on bluehead <br />suckers primarily include roundtail chub and several introduced nonnative species (Joseph et al. 1977). <br />Most populations of bluehead suckers occur in smaller streams and at higher elevations than those <br />inhabited by Colorado pikeminnow, so bluehead suckers in most systems do not constitute a major food <br />source for Colorado pikeminnow (Joseph et al. 1977). <br /> <br />The roundtail chub is endemic to the Colorado River drainage. Historically, roundtail chub commonly <br />occurred in most tributaries of the upper Colorado River Basin (Vanicek 1967; Holden and Stalnaker <br />1975; Joseph et al. 1977). Holden and Stalnaker (1975) reported that roundtail chub were abundant or <br />common at all sites sampled at the Yampa River, and most sites in the Dolores River. Carlson et al. <br />(1979) found that roundtail chub composed between 2.8% and 14.3% of the total fish captured from July <br />1975 through October 1977 at five sites on the Yampa River between Dinosaur National Monument and <br />the town of Craig, Colorado. The percent composition of roundtail chub, for all fish over 15 cm, was <br />estimated to be 6.7% downstream of Sunbeam (RM 60-64) and 3.8 percent 50 miles upstream near Duffy <br />Tunnel (Anderson, in press). In the Yampa River most roundtail chubs collected by Carlson et al. (1979) <br />were in eddy or pool habitat. McNatt and Skates (1985) found roundtail chub common at most sites in <br />the Green River and Yampa River in Dinosaur National Monument. Olson (1967) stated that roundtail <br />chub were common in collections in Navajo Reservoir during 1965. <br /> <br />Feeding habits of round tail chub are described as "opportunistic" and "sporadic" (Vanicek 1967). Joseph <br />et aJ. (1977) reported that roundtail chubs of all age classes are primarily carnivorous. Young roundtail <br />chub typically inhabit the slower, shallower water along the shoreline of the stream (Sigler and Miller <br />1963). Young chubs in the Green River consumed primarily aquatic insects (particularly chironomid <br />larvae and ephemeropteran nymphs) (Vanicek 1967; Vanicek and Kramer 1969). Joseph et al. (1977) <br />provided additional evidence of young roundtail chub feeding mostly on aquatic invertebrates found at the <br />bottom of pools and eddies. Most growth in young fish occurs between late May and October (Vanicek <br />1967). <br /> <br />34 <br />