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<br /> <br />I <br />[I <br /> <br />384 Recovery of Long-lived Species <br /> <br />females) are also used to determine sex, the <br />percentage of females increases from 7% (ripe <br />fish only) to 20% (ripe, plus fish identified by <br />secondary sex characters as females; Tyus and <br />Karp 1989). <br />Growth rates for fifty-nine tagged adults <br />subsequently recaptured in the Green River <br />(range 48.2-77.0 cm TL) averaged 11.2 mm <br />per year (Tyus 1988). Colorado squawfish <br />have been aged to eleven years by examination <br />of scales (Seethaler 1978), but more recent re- <br />sults using otoliths and vertebrae (conducted <br />by D. Schultz, \v. L. Minckley, and myself) <br />suggested ages for wild Green River adults <br />from seven to thirty years. <br /> <br />Foods and feeding <br /> <br />Adult Colorado squawfish are PlSClvores <br />(Vanicek and Kramer 1969; Minckley 1973; <br />Holden and Wick 1982), although some other <br />foods are also consumed. Large fish have been <br />caught with various baits, including Mor- <br />mon crickets (Anabrus migratorius; Tyus and <br />Minckley 1988) and carcasses of mice, birds, <br />and rabbits (Beckman 1953). I have also inter- <br />viewed fishermen who caught adults on hooks <br />baited with earthworms, night crawlers, cut <br />bait of sucker flesh; chicken, moose, and sage <br />grouse livers; and various artificial lures, in- <br />cluding spinners, plugs, and spoons (E. Wick, <br />M. Hughes, J. Johnson, and L. Masslich, pers. <br />comm.). W. L. Minckley (pers. comm.) saw <br />a large brood fish at Dexter National Fish <br />Hatchery, New Mexico, consume young Amer- <br />ican coots (Fulica americana). This voracious <br />appetite was further illustrated by a large indi- <br />vidual that surfaced and proceeded to strike <br />my plastic float and take it underwater. <br /> <br />Reproduction <br /> <br />Colorado squawfish make extensive migra- <br />tions, and homing of adult fish of 100 km and <br />more (Fig. 19-3) to spawning sites was docu- <br />mented through radio-tracking and repeated <br />recaptures of the same fish (Wick et al. 1981, <br /> <br />1983, 1985; Tyus 1985, 1990; Tyus et ale <br />1987; Tyus and Karp 1989). Large size pre- <br />sumably aids in undertaking long movements, <br />which must require significant energy expen- <br />ditures: The strategies involved are not fully <br />understood, but habitat selection and recruit- <br />ment success (fitness) are no doubt important. <br />Migration is a logical adaptation of intermon- <br />tane desert fishes to seasonally low discharges <br />and is related to selection of opdmal spawn- <br />ing sites as well (G. R. Smith 198Ib). <br />Only isolated captures of ripe squawfish <br />were reported from the Green River in the late <br />1960S (Vanicek and Kramer 1969) and early <br />1970S (Holden and Stalnaker 1975b; See- <br />thaler 1978). More detailed studies in the <br />1980s, however, indicated that reproductively <br />active adults seek faunally depauperate white- <br />water canyons for deposition of gametes in <br />summer. Two major migrations and spawning <br />areas have been identified by tracking radio- <br />tagged fish (Fig. 19-3). One migration to <br />Yampa Canyon (Yampa River km 0-32) was <br />identified in 1981 and studied annually <br />through 1988 (Tyus et a1. 1982b; Wick et al. <br />1983; Tyus and McAda 1984; Tyus et al. <br />1987; Tyus and Karp 1989). The other migra- <br />tion, to Gray Canyon of the Green River (km <br />232-256), was suspected in 1982, but in- <br />sufficient fish were radio-tracked to confirm <br />it until 1983 (Tyus 1985). The area was mon- <br />itored continuously from 1983 through 1988 <br />(Tyus 1990), and ripe adults have been caught <br />at both sites each year. Successful reproduc- <br />tion was confirmed by collection of larvae im- <br />mediately downstream, but not upstream, in <br />both areas, from 1980 to 1987 (Haynes et al. <br />1984; Tyus et a1. 1987; Nesler et a1. 1988). It <br />is possible that other spawning sites exist, in- <br />cluding one in Labyrinth and Stillwater can- <br />yons of the lower Green River (Tyus et al. <br />1987). If so, few radio-tagged fish used them <br />and the populations are presumably small. <br />Homing behavior was inferred from long- <br />distance movement patterns and recaptures <br /> <br /> <br />