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<br />t <br />It is important to consider possible beneficial actions of higher <br />arsenic levels to fish (greater than NCBP 85th percentile). Arsenic is a <br />known fungicide (Moore and Ramamoorthy 1984) and has been used in veterinary <br />medicine to treat parasitic diseases (Eisler 1988). It is possible that <br />higher arsenic levels in a hatchery situation may actually prove to be <br />beneficial. This possibility warrants further investigation. <br />Copper residue levels in Hotchkiss hatchery trout were also high, at 3X <br />the 1980-81 NCBP 85th percentile (Lowe et al 1985). Colorado squawfish copper <br />residue levels were all below the 1980-81 NCBP mean value of 2.72 ug/g dry <br />weight, except for Colorado squawfish #4 which contained 4.11 ug/g dry weight <br />copper, (higher than the NCBP 85th-percentile). Again, Colorado squawfish n4 <br />may have accumulated some copper from either food or water at Hotchkiss <br />hatchery, or from the White River. <br />Hotchkiss hatchery trout contained low levels of mercury in tissues. <br />Colorado squawfish, however, accumulated high mercury levels from the White <br />River, from 1.5 to 5.5X the 1980-81 85th percentile of 0.72 ug/g dry weight. <br />These Colorado squawfish were very old fish (approx. 10-25 yrs old). <br />Accumulation of mercury by aquatic biota tends to be rapid, and depuration <br />slow (Eisler 1987). The high mercury levels in these squawfish are somewhat <br />expected, as increases in mercury concentration with size and age of fish <br />seems to be a universal trend (Phillips et al 1987). Levels of cadmium found <br />in squawfish can probably also be attributed to the White River, because <br />Hotchkiss hatchery trout samples contained low levels. <br />On April 2, 1987, two channel catfish were collected from the Colorado <br />River, and sent to the Environment Trace Substances Research Center, Columbia, <br />Missouri for inorganic trace element analysis. Results are listed in Table 3. <br />Comparisons were made between these values, and levels found in three Colorado