9313

• UCREFRP Catalog Number: 9313
• Author: Burdick, B. D., J. Flair, M. Lloyd and B. Scheer.
• Title: Native and Nonnative Fish Use of Two Gravel-Pit Ponds Connected to the Upper Colorado River at 29-5/8 Road Near Grand Junction, Colorado.
• USFW Year: 1997.
• USFW - Doc Type: Project number CAP-6-GP,
• Copyright Material: NO

Inventory of Small-sized Fishes
Seining captured mostly small, young-of-the-year fish. However, sub-adult
and adult fishes of some small-sized fish species such as red shiner, sand
shiner, and western mosquitofish were also captured. Of the 21 fishes collected
during the entire study with all gear types, nine species were collected with
seines (Table 5). All were nonnatives.
Table 5. Catch statistics for fishes collected by seining from Gardner and
Hotspot ponds adjacent to the Colorado River near Grand Junction,
Colorado, 13 August 1996.

Common Name
Number
of fish Gardner Pond
Percentage
Composition
PUE
(Fish/lOm2)
Number
of fish Hotspot Pond
Percentage
Composition
CPUE
(Fish/lOmZ)
Native
flannelmouth sucker 0 0
bluehead sucker 0 0
roundtail chub 0 0
Colorado squawfish 0 0
Nonnative
black bullhead 270 32.45 5.11 8 1.94 0.11
common carp 3 0.36 0.06 3 0.73 0.04
largemouth bass 144 17.31 2.72 143 34.62 1.95
white sucker 0 0
black crappie 329 39.54 6.22 90 21.79 1.22
bluegill 1 0.12 0.02 0
channel catfish 0 0
green sunfish 21 2.52 0.40 32 7.75 0.44
western mosquitofish 62 7.45 1.17 125 30.27 2.05
red shiner 2 0.24 0.38 5 1.21 0.07
sand shiner 0 7 1.69 0.10
TOTAL 832 100.0 413 100.0
MEAN 15.74 5.64
Number of samples: Gardner Pond: 5
Hotspot Pond: 5
Total Area Sampled: Gardner Pond: 528.6 mZ
Hotspot Pond: 732 mZ
Composition and Abundance
Both ponds were sampled 13 August to assess annual reproduction of young-
of-the-year fish of the more common nonnative fishes. A total of 832 fish
representing eight species were collected in Gardner Pond; 413 fish representing
eight species were collected in Hotspot Pond (Table 5). Seining in August
revealed that five nonnative fish species (black bullhead, largemouth bass, black
crappie, green sunfish, and western mosquitofish) had successfully reproduced in
both ponds. Numerically, the eight fish species collected in descending order
in Gardner Pond were black crappie (40X), black bullhead (32X), largemouth bass
(17X), western mosquitofish (7X), green sunfish (3X), common carp, red shiner,
and bluegill (each < 1%; Figure 6). In Hotspot Pond, largemouth bass (35X),
western mosquitofish (30X), black crappie (22X), green sunfish (8X), black
bullhead and sand shiner (each 2%), red shiner (1X), and common carp (< 1%:
18