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<br />e <br /> <br />38 <br /> <br />e <br /> <br />H. M. TYUSAND]. M. BEARD <br /> <br />[Volume 50 <br /> <br />only one female walleye with developed <br />ovaries, and that was in May at a water tem- <br />perature of 13 C. Walleye in other locations <br />usually spawn at cooler water temperatures <br />(3.3-7.2 C, Sigler and Miller 1963; 5.6-11.1 <br />C, Scott and Crossman 1973). No small wall- <br />eye (< 395 mm TL) were captured in this <br />study. <br /> <br />Young of the endangered humpback chub, <br />Gila cypha; bony tail chub, G. elegans; razor- <br />back sucker, Xyrauchen texanus; and Colo- <br />rado squawfish, Ptychocheilus lucius, may be <br />potential prey for northern pike and walleye. <br />None of these fishes were identified in stom- <br />achs of northern pike or walleye, but our abil- <br />ity to detect such predation was constrained <br />by a small sample size of stomachs that con- <br />tained food, rarity of endangered fishes, and <br />inability to identify all of the fishes eaten. <br /> <br />Sympatry of adults of northern pike, wall- <br />eye, and endangered fishes is a cause for con- <br />cern, particularly if resource sharing occurs <br />during periods oflimited availability. We col- <br />lected northern pike, walleye, and Colorado <br />squawfish in similar shoreline habitats in the <br />mainstream Green River; in addition, radio- <br />tagged northern pike and Colorado squawfish <br />were syntopic in the Green and Yampa rivers <br />(Valdez and Masslich 1989, Wick and Hawkins <br />1989). Northern pike were captured in shal- <br />low, flooded habitats also utilized by razor- <br />back sucker. <br /> <br />Stocking programs for northern pike and <br />walleye have been discontinued by state <br />agencies in Colorado and Utah (G. M. Davis <br />and P. J. Martinez, personal communication), <br />and the relative absence of small fish of both <br />species suggests that reproduction in the <br />mainstream Green River is low or nonexistent <br />during most years. However, the continuing <br />invasion of northern pike and walleye into the <br />Green River from established, reproducing <br />stocks should be monitored, and their interac- <br />tions with endangered fishes further evalu- <br />ated until it can be more clearly demonstrated <br />that competition or predation on endangered <br />fishes does not occur or pose a serious threat. <br />The increasing abundance and spread of <br />northern pike, the diversity of fishes con- <br />sumed, and its syntopy with endangered <br />fishes make this voracious piscivore a poten- <br />tial threat to endangered Colorado River <br />fishes. <br /> <br />ACKNOWLEDGMENTS <br /> <br />This work was funded by the Bureau of <br />Reclamation and the Fish and Wildlife Ser- <br />vice. Numerous Fish and Wildlife Service <br />employees assisted with data collection. We <br />thank S. R. Cranny and M. Moretti of the <br />Utah Division of Wildlife Resources and R. A. <br />Valdez of BIO/WEST Incorporated for pro- <br />viding northern pike and walleye stomachs. <br />G. B. Haines and D. Moses aided in data <br />summarization and word processing. C. A. <br />Karp, P. Pister, and an anonymous reviewer <br />improved an earlier draft manuscript. <br /> <br />LITERATURE CITED <br /> <br />BEYERLE, G. B., AND J. K WILLIAMS. 1968. Some observa- <br />tions of food selectivity by northern pike in <br />aquaria. Transactions of the American Fisheries <br />Society 97: 28-31. <br />CAR LANDER, K D. 1969. Handbook of freshwater fishery <br />biology. Vol. I. Iowa State University Press, <br />Ames. 752 pp. <br />CARLSON, G A, AND K M. CARLSON. 1982. Review of <br />selected literature on the upper Colorado River <br />system and its fishes. Pages 1-8 in W. H. Miller, <br />H. M. Tyus, and GA. Carlson, eds., Fishes of the <br />upper Colorado River system: present and future. <br />American Fisheries Society, Bethesda, Maryland. <br />131 pp. <br />COOK, M. F., AND K P. BERGERSEN. 1988. Movements, <br />habitat selection, and activity periods of northern <br />pike in Eleven Mile Reservoir, Colorado. Transac- <br />tions of the American Fisheries Society 117: <br />495-502. <br />FROST, W. K 1954. The food of pike, Esox lucius L., in <br />Windermere. Journal of Animal Ecology 23: <br />339-360. <br />HOLDEN, P. B., AND G B. STALNAKER. 1975. Distribution <br />and abundance of mainstream fishes of the middle <br />and upper Colorado River basins, 1967-1973. <br />Transactions of the American Fisheries Society <br />104: 217-231. <br />JOSEPH, T W., J. A SINNING, R J. BEHNKE. AND P. B. <br />HOLDEN. 1977. An evaluation of the status, life <br />history, and habitat requirements of endangered <br />and threatened fishes of the upper Colorado River <br />system. FWS/OBS-77-62. U.S. Fish and Wildlife <br />Service, Office of Biological Services, Fort <br />Collins, Colorado. 194 pp. <br />LAWLER, G. H. 1965. The food of the pike, Esox lucius, in <br />Hemming Lake, Manitoba. Journal of the Fish- <br />eries Resource Board of Canada 22: 1357-1377. <br />MILLER, R B. 1948. A note on the movement of the pike, <br />Esox lucius. Copeia 1948: 62. <br />MOYLE, P. B., H. W. LI, AND B. A BARTON. 1986. The <br />Frankenstein effect: impact of introduced fishes <br />on native fishes in North America. Pages 415-426 <br />in R. H. Stroud, ed" Fish culture in fisheries <br />management. American Fisheries Society, Be- <br />thesda, Maryland. 481 pp. <br /> <br />~ <br />