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total length at hatching was 0.24-0.25 inches. Total length of normal fry at swim-up was <br />greatest at 68°F (0.34 inches), compared with 0.32 inches at 59°and 77°F. The incidence of <br />deformed fry was highest (4 percent) at 59°F. <br />Bonytail fry produced at Willow Beach in 1981 were reared at the Dexter NFHTC (Hamman <br />1982b). Spawning trials on 2 year-old bonytail were carried out in 1983 (Hamman 1985) <br />when 24 females were spawned over a 4-week period using carp pituitary extract to induce <br />ovulation. The fish ranged from 1.6-8 ounces with a mean weight of 4.5 ounces. Fecundity <br />ranged from 1,015 to 10,384 eggs per fish with a mean of 4,677. Average number of eggs <br />per pound of body weight varied from 5,076 to 29,935 with a mean of 17,283; egg viability <br />averaged 67.5 percent. Eggs were hatched in Heath incubators at 70°F. <br />Bonytail have been placed into ponds at Arizona State University Research Park as well as <br />earthen tanks at the Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge, Arizona; these stockings were <br />made for research purposes and to produce fish for stockings elsewhere (Marsh 1988). An <br />additional refugium was established at Hassayampa River Preserve owned by the Nature <br />Conservancy. In 1983, 10,000 fry were shipped to the California Department of Fish and <br />Game, and approximately 2,000 of these fish were placed into a small golf course pond. <br />The young survived and grew with an expanding population of nonnative mosquitofish and <br />African cichlids (USFWS 1990a). Moreover, bonytail annually produce substantial year <br />classes through natural spawning under pond conditions at Dexter NFHTC (USFWS 1990a). <br />CRITICAL HABITAT <br />DEFINITION OF CRITICAL HABITAT <br />"Critical habitat," as defined in Section 3(5)(A) of the Act, means: (i) the specific areas <br />within the geographical area occupied by the species at the time it is listed, on which are <br />found those physical and biological features (I) essential to the conservation of the species <br />and (II) which may require special management considerations or protection; and (ii) specific <br />areas outside the geographical area occupied by a species at the time it is listed upon a <br />determination by the Secretary that such areas are essential for the conservation of the <br />species. <br />The term "conservation," as defined in Section 3(3) of the Act, means: the use of all <br />methods and procedures which are necessary to bring any endangered species or threatened <br />species to the point at which the measures provided pursuant to this Act are no longer <br />necessary. <br />Therefore, in the case of critical habitat, conservation represents the areas required to <br />recover a species to the point of delisting (i.e., the species is recovered and is removed from <br />the list of endangered and threatened species). In this context, critical habitat preserves <br />36