Laserfiche WebLink
physical pazameters is very difficult. However, even small increases in numbers of YOY Colorado <br />squawfish in the upper river should be obvious. Tyus and Haines (1991) found no relationship <br />between spring flows and relative abundance of YOY Colorado squawfish in the Green River; <br />however, they did find significant correlations with summer flows. No significant correlations were <br />found between ISMP data and various flow variables in the Green River. It may be that there is a <br />threshold of spring flow (both peak and duration) that is reached in the Green River during most <br />yeazs. This threshold may not have been reached in 1989-the yeaz of lowest runoff -and lowest CPE <br />of YOY Colorado squawfish in the upper Green River. <br />Growth <br />Mean total length of YOY Colorado squawfish was between 35 and 45 mm in most reaches and <br />most yeazs. More than 50% of the fish collected were between about 20 and 50 mm long in most <br />yeazs. Tyus and Haines (1991) reported mean lengths of 29 to 47 mm for YOY Colorado squawfish <br />collected from the Green River between 1979 and 1986. Vanicek and Kramer (1969) estimated an <br />average length of 44 mm at the end of the first growing season using a combination of back <br />calculation and empirical data. <br />It was difficult to determine the maximum size of fish after the first growing season, because <br />Colorado squawfish as long as 100 mm were collected in some years. It is likely that some of the <br />larger fish collected in the fall aze actually completing their second growing season. However, <br />because the length-frequency distribution does not exhibit a second peak, there is no way to know for <br />sure without aging each fish. Valdez and Cowdell (1993) collected Colorado squawfish less than 40 <br />mm long in spring samples. These smaller fish could still be less than 100 mm the following fall. <br />Hawkins (1992) used back calculation of length from scale analysis to determine the average length of <br />fish at the end of their second growing season to be 90 mm. Vanicek and Kramer (1969) also <br />reported most fish to be between 70 and 100 mm long after their second growing season. <br />As observed earlier, mean total length was smallest in 1986-the year of highest runoff observed <br />in the monitoring program to date-and was positively correlated with accumulated water temperature <br />in three of the four reaches sampled. This correlation between total length and accumulated <br />temperature units is primarily a result of timing of the spawning period. In lower runoff yeazs, the <br />water wazmed eazlier and therefore spawning occurred earlier. The young Colorado squawfish then <br />had a longer growing season before sampling occurred than they did in years when spring runoff was <br />higher and more extended. Although temperature is an important component of spawning period, <br />other factors such as photo period may also play a role. <br />Habitat Use <br />During years of high abundance, YOY Colorado squawfish were found in almost all backwaters <br />sampled with ISMP except for those in Reach 2. Variation in the percent of backwaters occupied <br />during other yeazs was roughly proportional to their relative abundance in the river as a whole. <br />Based on their presence or absence in backwaters and the limited physical measurements made at each <br />backwater, there was no clear preference for one type of backwater over another by YOY Colorado <br />squawfish. There were some significant differences among the data pairs comparing vazious habitat <br />parameters, but the data were highly variable and most comparisons did not produce significant <br />differences. Further, the significant relationships were not always in the same categories, although a <br />trend was often detectable among the many observations. None-the-less, the significant differences <br />that were observed give some general indications about habitat use by YOY Colorado squawfish: <br />21 <br />