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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY <br />Colorado squawfish (Ptychocheilus lucius), a large piscivorous cyprinid endemic to warm- <br />water reaches of the Colorado River system, is well known for its spawning migrations and <br />long-distance drift of resulting larvae. However, little is known about the dispersal <br />movements of juveniles recruiting to the adult population. Our objective was to describe <br />these movements among Colorado squawfish in the upper Colorado River in an attempt to <br />better understand the life history strategy of this endangered species. <br />River-wide, capture-recapture data of PIT-tagged fish were used to document movements of <br />subadult and adult Colorado squawfish. Capture and tagging efforts were made during spring <br />runoff (mid-April to mid-June) from 1990 through 1995. Most captures were made by <br />trammel-netting flooded backwaters, but data were also supplemented with electrofishing <br />captures. Limited capture and tagging efforts were made in 1990 and only in the upper reach <br />(upstream of Westwater Canyon). During 1991-1994, three passes through the upper reach <br />were made each year to net Colorado squawfish; with each pass, every backwater was netted. <br />Two such passes were made each year through the lower reach (downstream of Westwater <br />Canyon), with only one pass made during 1991. Recapture data obtained during 1995 was <br />from other electrofishing and netting studies conducted in both reaches. <br />Longitudinal distribution of Colorado squawfish was described in terms of mean size of fish <br />and mean number of adults captured per net in six river strata. Concentration areas of <br />Colorado squawfish during the spring runoff period were also noted. Movements of fish <br />captured one year and recaptured in a subsequent year were compared among size classes of <br />fish and between those fish initially captured in the lower reach and those captured in the <br />upper reach. Sizes of those fish moving from the lower reach to the upper reach were also <br />noted. After hypothesizing that dispersal movements are a response to food resource <br />gradients, we compared relative body condition of similar-sized adults from the lower and <br />upper reaches and compared relative abundance of native forage fish among river strata. <br />Average length of Colorado squawfish progressively increased upstream and was most <br />pronounced during the first years of the study. During 1991-1992, most adults (> 500 mm <br />TL) were concentrated in the upper reach and very few adults were found in the lower reach. <br />As the study progressed, demographics changed as 2-3 consecutive strong year classes, <br />hatched during the mid-1980's, grew and dispersed as they recruited to the adult population. <br />As a result, average length increased in lower-reach strata and decreased in upper-reach <br />strata. By 1993, there was a five-fold increase in catch rates of adults in the lower reach. <br />Lower-reach sites where subadults and adults were most concentrated during runoff included <br />the mouths of Indian and Kane Springs creeks in Stratum 1, and Cisco and Sagar's washes in <br />Stratum 3. Concentration sites for adults in the upper reach during runoff included <br />B-v