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Spatial and Temporal Aspects of Bonytail Chub Movement and Habitat Use, Cibola High Levee Pond, lower Colorado River, Arizona and California, 2003-2004 Paul C. Marsh School. of Life Sciences Arizona State University Tempe, Arizona 85287-4501 Summary Sonic transmitters were affixed to a sample of ten large, adult bonytail in 2003 and nine smaller, sub-adult bonytail in 2004 released into the Cibola High Levee Pond, a small backwater adjacent to the lower Colorado River. Series of point and paired, directional observations showed that adult bonytail used interstices of large riprap during the daytime, then came out into open water during hours of darkness, presumably to feed. The spatial pattern of daytime cover use revealed a significant level of site fidelity. Most fish showed some pattern of geographic distribution at night, with most observations in a particular area of the pond, while other fish showed a random distribution. Subadult bonytail apparently occupied open water throughout the day and night and did not seek specific cover. However, all small fish are believed to have expired before the end of the field study and their behaviors and habitat use may not have been typical. A combination of sensitivity to capture, handling, and tag attachment are believed responsible for their mortality. Methods that are not harmful to test fish should be identified and implemented to enhance reliability of future data. Selection or design of bonytail management areas including grow-out and refugium sites should consider cover requirements for larger fish, as this may be an important limiting factor. Introduction This report presents one of several aspects of ongoing studies of native bonytail Gila elegans and razorback sucker Xyrauchen texanus in the Cibola High Levee Pond (HLP). The Cibola HLP is a small (ca. 5 acre) remnant of the lower Colorado River channel located between the river (low) and inland (high) levees on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Cibola National Wildlife Refuge in La Paz County, Arizona and Imperial County, California. The pond was reclaimed to eliminate non-native fishes and first stocked with native species in 1993, and since then the site has served roles in both management and- research (see LaBarbara and Minckley 1999, Marsh 2000, Mueller et al. 2003). The purpose of this investigation was to examine temporal and spatial patterns of movement and habitat use by bonytail inhabiting the Cibola HLP. This goal was accomplished using sonic telemetry to acquire location data for bonytail representing relatively larger and relatively smaller fish in separate years. ~~e