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FEAsmi,ITY OF DEVELOPING AND MAINTAINING A SPORT FIST-IE:RY IN THE SALT RIVER PROJECT CANALS
<br />RESULTS
<br />Fish Collection Site Habitats
<br />At each fish collection site, we assigned
<br />qualitative flow regimes to indicate general aquatic
<br />habitats. We estimated that the Arizona Canal
<br />had approximately 44 km (72%) of runs, 13 km
<br />(21%) of pools, and 4.4 km (7%) of riffle habitat.
<br />Site 7 was a deep-water, run habitat.
<br />Approximately 1.9 km of Site 5 was also deep-
<br />water, run habitat, while the remaining section of
<br />this site was pool habitat. Site 3 was a shallow
<br />segment of canal with approximately 1/3 riffle and
<br />2/3 run habitat. Riffle habitat in Site 3 was located
<br />immediately downstream of the water control
<br />structure at 19th Avenue. We classified Alternate
<br />Site 3 to be 1/9 run and 2/3 pool habitat. In
<br />addition, Alternate Site 3 had mostly earthen
<br />bottom and banks with overhanging vegetation.
<br />Both Site 3 and Alternate Site 3 were within the
<br />same reach between 2 water control structures.
<br />We classified Site 2 as pool habitat with some
<br />riffles occurring immediately below the water
<br />control structure upstream of the 43rd Avenue
<br />and Peoria Avenue intersection. Riffle habitat
<br />was found at the top of Site 1 immediately below
<br />the water control structure at 67th Avenue;
<br />however, most of Site 1 was pool habitat.
<br />Fish Surveys
<br />Species Diversity and Abundance. We collected
<br />13,355 fish from our electrofishing surveys,
<br />representing 20 species and 10 families (Table 2).
<br />The most abundant species were: Sonora sucker,
<br />desert sucker, threadfin shad, red shiner, white
<br />amur, and largemouth bass, respectively (Table 3).
<br />Collectively, these 6 species accounted for about
<br />98% of the total sample. To identify the resident
<br />assemblage of fish in the Arizona Canal, we
<br />excluded stocked channel catfish (n = 24) and
<br />stocked trout (n = 122) from the total
<br />electrofishing count. In addition, 38 larval fish
<br />were not identified and were excluded from our
<br />total. The 14 remaining species had relative
<br />abundances that were < 1%. Four species were
<br />caught only once during our study: smallmouth
<br />bass, walleye, flathead catfish, and an oscar.
<br />Species richness remained relatively constant
<br />throughout this study (Table 4). The highest
<br />number of species (n = 18) was collected at the
<br />downstream end of the canal (Skunk Creek
<br />Drain), and declined to 12 toward the head of the
<br />canal (Granite Reef Dam). The year-to-year
<br />difference in mean species richness was small (n =
<br />4).
<br />Table 2. Common names, scientific names, and
<br />species reporting codes of fish collected from 5
<br />sites along the Arizona Canal, October 1992
<br />through July 1994.
<br />Family/Species'' Code
<br />Catostomidae
<br />Desert sucker, Catostomus clarki CACL
<br />Sonora sucker, Catostomus insignis CAIN
<br />Centrarchidae
<br />Bluegill, Lepomis macrochirus LEMA
<br />Green sunfish, Lepomis cyanellus LECY
<br />Largemouth bass, Micropterus MISA
<br />salmoides
<br />Smallmouth bass, Micropterus MIDO
<br />dolomieu
<br />Cichlidae
<br />Oscar, Astronotus ocellatus ASOC
<br />Clupeidae
<br />Threadfin shad, Dorosoma petenense DOPE
<br />Cyprinidae
<br />Common carp, Cyprinus carpio CYCA
<br />Goldfish, Carassius auratus CAAU
<br />Red shiner, Cyprinella lutrensis CYLU
<br />Roundtail chub, Gila robusta GIRO
<br />White amur, Ctenopbaryngodon idella CTID
<br />Ictaluridae
<br />Channel catfish, Ictalurus punctatus ICPU
<br />Flathead catfish, Pylodictis olivaris PYOL
<br />Yellow bullhead, Ameiurus natalis AMNA
<br />Percichthyidae
<br />Yellow bass, Morone mississippiensis MOMI
<br />Percidae
<br />Walleye, Stizostedion vitreum STVI
<br />Poeciliidae
<br />Western mosquitofish, Gambusia GAAF
<br />aff nis
<br />Salmonidae
<br />Rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss ONMY
<br />* Source: Am. Fish. Soc. 1991.
<br />B. R. WRIGHT AND J. A. SORENSEN 1995 ARIZONA GAME & FISH DEPARTMENT, TECH. REP. 18 19
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