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<br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />Executive Summary <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />Information on the fish community of the lower Duchesne River was very limited. This <br />study served to gain additional information regarding the fish community ofthe river. The <br />specific objectives of this study included: I) Document by field sampling the annual distribution <br />and relative abundance of larval or early juvenile Colorado pikeminnow, razorback sucker, other <br />native fishes, and nonnative fishes in the lower 34.5 miles of the Duchesne River; and 2) <br />Determine relations among observed trends, over the course of the study, in distribution and <br />abundance of Colorado pikeminnow, razorback suckers, other native fishes, and nonnative fishes <br />in the lower Duchesne River and the annual and seasonal hydrograph, <br />These objectives were achieved by sampling from May through early September of 1997 <br />through 1999 on the lower 34.5 miles of the Duchesne River. Sampling efforts to detect larval <br />fish were conducted from May through July on the lower 14 miles of river, Three monitoring <br />reaches representing different river channel characteristics were sampled for post-larval fish <br />once every other week from July through September. Endangered species captured during larval <br />sampling efforts included one probable larval razorback sucker and two young-of-the-year <br />Colorado pikeminnow. Larvae of native species captured included flannelmouth sucker, <br />bluehead sucker, speckled dace and roundtail chub, Larvae of red shiner, sand shiner and fathead <br />minnow were the most common. Other species collected during larval sampling included black <br />bullhead catfish, brook stickleback, common carp, channel catfish, green sunfish, smallmouth <br />bass and white sucker. Native species collected during post-larval sampling using seines, <br />included speckled dace, flannelmouth sucker, bluehead sucker, and roundtail chub. Red shiners <br />and fathead minnows were consistently the most numerous species collected in seines and were <br />very abundant throughout all habitats and reaches. Other species captured included redside <br />shiner, black crappie, bluegill sunfish, largemouth bass, Utah chub, and white sucker. <br />The degree of association between flow parameters and relative fish species abundance <br />was estimated using Pearson r correlation. In some instances, magnitude of flow regime among <br />years and the relative abundance of fishes of the lower Duchesne was significantly or strongly <br />associated during the study period. Higher peak flows were associated with lower catch rates of <br />larval red shiner and fathead minnow and higher catch rates of larval flannelmouth sucker, and <br />speckled dace. Although a very small number were caught, catch rates of young- of-year <br />smallmouth bass were lower during the year of sustained high peak flow and sustained high <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />VI <br /> <br />. <br />