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fishes needed for this study. Consequently, the largest aspect of the tagging <br />study was conducted at this location. Five tagging and marking systems were <br />selected and evaluated on several sizes of hatchery-reared Colorado squawfish <br />(mean fork length [FL]=72 mm; SD=0.6; range 55-88 mm), razorback sucker (mean <br />FL=110 mm; SD=7.5; range 84-217), and bonytail (mean FL=76 mm; SD=1.9; range 62- <br />116 mm). The five tagging and marking systems (experimental groups) evaluated <br />included both physical (internal and external) and chemical types. These were: <br />1) PIT tags (two treatments), 2) V. I. (visible implant) tags, 3) Carlin-dangler <br />tags, and 4) acrylic dyes. The two treatments of PIT tags consisted of those <br />fish implanted with a PIT tag either in the body cavity or in the dorsal <br />musculature. <br />Sixty fish of each species comprised each of the experimental groups; sixty <br />fish of each species were used for the control group (no tag or mark) (Figure 1). <br />Carlin-dangler tags were attached to bonytail and razorback sucker only. Two <br />different test environments were selected to hold the experimental and control <br />groups for each of the three fish species. Experimental groups and controls for <br />each species were equally divided (30 fish) between an outdoor earthen pond <br />(approximately 0.04 hectare) and an outdoor cement raceway (14 m X 1.8 m X 0.6 <br />m). The raceway and pond were continuously provided with ground water. The pond <br />was covered during the fall and winter (October through April) with polypropylene <br />netting (2.54 cm mesh) to control avian predation. <br />All fish in each experimental group received a specific secondary mark <br />(full fin removal) to allow recognition of potential tag/mark loss over time. <br />All fish were anesthetized with tricaine methanesulfonate (MS-222) prior to fin <br />removal. This was conducted approximately one week prior to the tagging/marking. <br />The secondary mark for each experimental group was as follows, <br />5 <br />