9635

• UCREFRP Catalog Number: 9635
• Author: Marsh, P. C. and J. D. Schooley.
• Title: Bonytail Chub Foods and Feeding Habits, Cibola High Levee Pond, Lower Colorado River, Arizona and California, 2003-2004.
• USFW Year: n.d.
• USFW - Doc Type: Tempe, AZ.
• Copyright Material: NO

'~
There were several factors that introduce an unknown level of uncertainly into our study. First, on
more than one occasion, nets were run in stages~such that early catch was held in a live car for a
period of time before being re-assimilated with the later catch. This allowed an unequal time for
digestion or evacuation of GI contents within sub-samples of fish. Potential effects of this
protocol on food consumption results are unknown. Next, there were no control samples that
could be used to evaluate the effectiveness of the siphoning method vs. surgical extraction of G1
contents. However, studies by others (BioNl/est 1994, Wasowicz and Valdez 1994) suggest that
siphoning was nearly 100% effective with roundtail chub Gila robusta and was assumed similarly
effective with humpback chub Gila cypha. Bonytail is morphologically similar to these congeners
and we are unaware of any reason stomach pumping would be differentially effective among the
three species. Finally, an expected linear relationship between fish weight and GI sample size
was not observed. Implications of this result are not clear, but if may have been due in part to
variation among samples in time elapsed between capture and processing.
Acknowledgements
Gordon Mueller, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) contributed substantially to the design and
implementation of this project. Jeanette Carpenter (USGS}, Darren Thornbrugh, Robert Colvin
and C.O. Minckley (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, USFWS), and Michael R. Schwemm (Arizona
State University, ASU) provided additional field assistance. Work was performed under ASU
Animal Use and Care Protocol No. 05-767R. Appropriate Arizona, California, and USFWS
permits authorized collections. U.S. Geological Survey Biological Resources Division provided
funding through Cooperative Agreement No. OOCRAG004 Project Award No. 0004CS003 to
Arizona State University. Gordon Mueller served as the USGS Project Officer.
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