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1 <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />1 <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />11 <br />1 <br /> <br /> <br />1 <br /> <br />1 <br /> <br /> <br />occasionally seen at the pond, but we have no data and can offer no specu- <br />lation on the predatory impact herons might have had on the stocked squaw- <br />fish. Cannibalism among squawfish may have been a problem because alter- <br />native forage was limited. Personnel at Dexter NFH report severe losses <br />of Colorado squawfish due to cannibalism in concrete raceways when food <br />was withheld (Buddy Jensen, personal communication). Though the incidence <br />of cannibalism is well known for squawfish held under crowded, confined <br />conditions in aquaria or raceways, we doubt cannibalism would be equally <br />severe under pond conditions where squawfish are more dispersed. If <br />cannibalism occurred, it could not account for the complete elimination of <br />the squawfish population in Fish Chalet Pond. However, some cannibalism <br />could have occurred; by 9 July 1987 the difference in size classes in the <br />pond may have allowed the largest squawfish to prey on many of the smaller <br />squawfish size classes (Table 2); by 12 August, however, the difference in <br />sizes was less and the largest squawfish would have had very few small <br />ones to prey on. The body-depth limit, predicted by Bulkley and Berry's <br />model (1985) should, however, be treated with caution when dealing with <br />very fusiform prey such as Colorado squawfish. According to the model, <br />squawfish should be able to consume other squawfish up to 67% of their own <br />length. The maximum size of squawfish that another squawfish might actu- <br />ally consume could be much smaller than the model predicts, because the <br />body depth of squawfish is small relative to the fishes overall size <br />(i.e., though the prey's body may theoretically fit between the jaws, its <br />overall size would cause handling problems for the predator). Until <br />controlled feeding experiments are conducted to clarify the prey size <br />limits of Colorado squawfish, we have reservations about applying Bulkley <br />and Berry's (1985) model in estimating the vulnerability of various sizes <br />17