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and analysis to that portion of the fish community consisting of species with individuals > 100 <br />mm TL. Relative abundance of small, backwater-dwelling minnows (e.g., Pimephales <br />promelas, Cyprinella lutrensis, Notropis stramineus), the primary forage for sub- and young- <br />adult Colorado pikeminnow (< 550 mm TL), is monitored annually as part of other studies <br />(e.g. McAda et al. 1994) and therefore was not investigated here. <br />We sampled the fish community each spring and fall of 1994 and 1995. Sampling during the <br />first season (spring 1994) consisted of a pilot effort and therefore yielded only a partial data <br />set (strata 4, 6, 9 and 11 were sampled). In both years sampling occurred during base-flow <br />periods: in spring, between March 7 and April 28; in fall, between September 7 and October <br />24 (Appendix Table 2). <br />Within each study reach, both shorelines were electrofished in a downstream direction. <br />Within seasons, the same boat was used for both shorelines, sometimes on the same day; <br />sometimes on different dates. In most cases a 5-m, hard-bottomed, electrofishing boat was <br />used. In reaches containing rapids, a 5-m, rubber raft outfitted for electrofishing was <br />sometimes used. Each type of boat was equipped with a Coffelt WP-15 (Coffelt <br />Manufacturing, Flagstaff, Arizona) that produced pulsed DC. Total elapsed time electricity <br />was applied along each shoreline sample was recorded in seconds by an automatic counter on <br />the WP, Whether rowed or motored, every effort was made to maintain a constant boat <br />speed. Because fish were abundant in strata 7-12, two people with long-handled dip nets <br />were stationed on the bow of the boat to net stunned fish; however, in strata 1-6, where fish <br />were few, only one person netted fish. Each shoreline within each subreach was treated as a <br />separate sample, resulting in six samples per stratum. <br />Netted fish were transferred to one of two live wells on the boat and held until a shoreline <br />sample was completed: fishes from run habitats went in one live well and fishes from riffles <br />went in the other. Elapsed shocking time through each habitat type was counted on the WP <br />meter and recorded on data sheets at the time of sampling, i.e., each time a run ended and a <br />riffle began (and vice versa), the number of seconds was recorded and the counter was reset <br />to zero. At the bottom of the reach, fishes were identified, measured for total length (to the <br />nearest millimeter), weighed with an electronic balance (to the nearest gram), and released. <br />Catch-per-unit-effort (number of fish caught per minute of electrofishing) was calculated by <br />dividing the total number of fish (either in aggregate or by species) by total shocking time for <br />each electrofishing sample; values for all samples within a stratum were averaged to provide a <br />mean catch rate for that stratum. Comparisons of catch rates among strata were made both <br />for all fish and for only those deemed vulnerable to Colorado pikeminnow predation. We <br />assumed that because of their large size, many adult fish were not vulnerable to predation by <br />Colorado pikeminnow. We therefore partitioned fish by size, omitted the larger size classes <br />(> 300 mm TL, see below), and then compared catch rates among strata. The maximum size <br />of prey a given size of Colorado pikeminnow can consume is unknown. For fusiform-shaped <br />prey, maximum prey size is probably not limited by predator gape width but rather by prey <br />body length or mass (Osmundson 1987). We assumed Colorado pikeminnow could consume <br />prey up to half their own length (e.g., Juanes 1994, Osmundson et al. 1998), and therefore fish