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Colorado and Little Colorado rivers in the Grand Canyon have collected over 21,000 <br />specimens of adult and juvenile humpback chub since 1987 (Valdez 1991; Valdez et al. <br />1992; Douglas and Marsh 1992, 1993; Robinson and Clarkson 1992; Gorman et al. 1993; <br />Arizona Game and Fish Department 1993). Specimens also have been collected from <br />Shinumo, Bright Angel, Kanab and Havasu creeks (Maddux et al. 1987). Collections made <br />in mainstem backwaters suggest that these habitats serve as important rearing areas for <br />young-of-year humpback chub (Maddux et al. 1987). The cold tailwaters of the dam and <br />fluctuating flows have apparently caused major reductions in both the distribution and <br />abundance of humpback chub in Marble and Grand canyons (Minckley 1973; Holden and <br />Stalnaker 1975a; Suttkus et al. 1976; Maddux et al. 1987). Humpback chub were collected <br />in Lake Powell after closure of the dam in the 1960's (Holden and Stalnaker 1970; Suttkus <br />and Clemmer 1977), but only young-of-year fish at the inflow area have been collected <br />recently (Valdez 1987, 1988). <br />In the Upper Basin, the highest known concentrations of humpback chub are found in the <br />Black Rocks and Westwater Canyon reaches of the Colorado River near the Colorado/Utah <br />State line (Valdez 1981; Wick et al. 1981; Valdez and Clemmer 1982; and Archer et al. <br />1985; Kaeding et al. 1990). A population of humpback chub has been reported from <br />Cataract Canyon on the Colorado River above the inflow area to Lake Powell. A total of <br />108 humpback chub, of which 22 were adult fish and 56 were juvenile, were collected during <br />a 4-year investigation of Cataract Canyon from 1985 to 1988, by Valdez (1990). These <br />findings and those of past studies (Valdez et al. 1982b), indicate that there is a small <br />population of humpback chub in Cataract Canyon. Although actual spawning has not been <br />documented, the presence of various size humpback chubs, including possible young-of-year <br />fish, through the 12-mile reach of Cataract Canyon supports the hypotheses that spawning <br />occurs there. Specimens also have been collected from the Colorado River in Professor <br />Valley above Moab, in Elephant Canyon about 2 miles above the confluence with the Green <br />River, and in the inflow area of Lake Powell (unpublished U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service <br />data; Valdez 1987, 1988). In December 1981, the Service stocked 7,600 age-I humpback <br />chub, marked with a coded nose-tag, (progeny from Black Rocks) into Cataract Canyon, but <br />no recaptures have been confirmed. <br />Humpback chub were collected from the Desolation and Gray Canyons of the Green River in <br />the early 1970's and 1979-81 (Holden and Stalnaker 1975a; Tyus et al. 1982b). The <br />humpback chub also is rare in the Green and Yampa Rivers of Dinosaur National Monument <br />(Holden and Stalnaker 1975a; Seethaler et al. 1979; Miller et al. 1982a). Tyus et al. (1987) <br />reported that of 523 Gila sp. collected from the Green River basin during 1979-1986, <br />humpback chub comprised 28 percent of those from the Green River and 12 percent of those <br />from the Yampa River. Vanicek et al. (1970) indicated that the humpback chub was <br />adversely affected in the Green River above the mouth of the Yampa River after Flaming <br />Gorge Dam became operational in 1962. However, a spawning population remains in <br />Yampa Canyon in Dinosaur National Monument near the confluence of the Green and <br />Yampa rivers. A total of 32 fish in breeding condition were captured in Yampa Canyon <br />from 1986-1988, including 5 ripe females, 14 ripe males, and 13 fish with breeding tubercles <br />27