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<br />]72 <br /> <br />VALDEZ AND MUTH <br /> <br />drift of young occurs in streams and may be fol- <br />lowed by a second drift period in response to popu- <br />lation density (Sigler and Miller 1963). Mottled <br />sculpin and Paiute sculpin are bottom dwellers and <br />feed mostly at night on snails, amphipods, oligocha- <br />etes, insect larvae, and planktonic crustaceans, in- <br />cidentally consuming detritus, and filamentous <br />green algae (Sigler and Sigler 1996). <br /> <br />Mountain Whitefish <br /> <br />Mountain whitefish are typically 150-450 mm TL <br />and 500-1,300 g (Sigler and Sigler 1996). Thespe- <br />cies is trout-like in appearance, but has a much smaller <br />head, larger adipose fin, large scales, and no teeth. <br />The snout is pointed and extends past the mouth. <br />Mountain whitefish is a game fish with bag and pos- <br />session limits in most upper basin states. It is found in <br />cold mountain streams and is common to abundant <br />above 2, 1 00 m devation. Mountain whitefISh inhabits <br />swift streams and cold, deep lakes. Newly hatched fry <br />use shallow water along shorelines, at stream edges, <br />or in protected backwaters, but they move into deeper <br />water as they grow. Mountain whitefish prefers tem- <br />peratures of 14-160C, but tolerates temperatures far <br />above and below this range, which gives it greater <br />survival abilities than trout or salmon. It is also able to <br />thrive in water with lower DO than most trout spe- <br />cies. Mountain whitefish usually mature in 3-4 years <br />and live up to 17-18 years. Spawning occurs at night <br />between October and December over gravd or rocks <br />in streams or in shallow lake shores at water tempera- <br />tures of 5-60C. Fecundity is about 1,500-7,000 eggs <br />per female. Eggs are broadcast over cobble substrate <br />and hatch in early spring after about 5 months of <br />incubation. Mountain whitefish usually eat aquatic <br />insect larvae, small molluscs, eggs, and sometimes fish. <br /> <br />Colorado River Cutthroat Trout <br /> <br />Colorado River cutthroat trout are currently a <br />conservation species in Utah, Colorado, and Wyo- <br />ming. A conservation agreement and strategy was <br />developed to provide a collaborative strategy for <br />conservation and to allow more flexibility in man- <br />agement (CRCT Task Force 2001). The Colorado <br />River cutthroat trout is classified as a sensitive spe- <br />cies by Regions 2 and 4 of the U.S. Forest Service <br /> <br />(USFS) and by the Bureau of Land Management <br />(BLM). <br />Colorado River cutthroat trout historically oc- <br />cupied portions of the Colorado River system in <br />Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and New <br />Mexico (Behnke 1992), including portions oflarger <br />streams, such as the Green, Yampa, White, Colo- <br />rado, and San Juan rivers, but it was probably ab- <br />sent from the lower reaches of many large rivers <br />because of high summer temperatures (Simon <br />1935; Behnke 1979). Distribution and abundance <br />of Colorado River cutthroat trout have declined, <br />and the species is limited to small populations in less <br />than 1 % of its historic range (Binns 1977; Behnke <br />1979; Martinez 1988; Young 1995). Like other <br />inland forms, this subspecies evolved in the absence <br />of other trouts. It is highly susceptible to hybridiza- <br />tion with rainbow trout and competitive replace- <br />ment by brown trout Salmo trutta and brook trout <br />Salvelinus fimtinalis. Pure Colorado River cutthroat <br />trout remain as small populations in Colorado, Utah, <br />and Wyoming (Behnke 1992). Many adfluvial stocks <br />have been lost (Young 1995), and some populations <br />have been reestablished. The largest pure popula- <br />tion of Colorado River cutthroat trout in Trapper's <br />Lake, Colorado, was recently hybridized by rainbow <br />trout (Behnke 2002). Fortunatdy, a 1931 shipment <br />of pure Trapper's Lake fish was traced to Williamson <br />Lakes, California, and 300 fish were procured for <br />transport to Bench Lake, Colorado, for devdopment <br />of pure populations (Martinez 1988; Pister 1990). <br />Remaining populations of Colorado River cutthroat <br />trout occur mostly in headwater streams and lakes. <br />Most lotic populations are in isolated headwater <br />streams with average daily flow less than 0.85 m3 / s, <br />stream gradients that usually exceed 4%, and eleva- <br />tions above 2,290 m (Young 1995). <br />Colorado River cutthroat trout hybridizes with <br />other subspecies of cutthroat trout or with rain- <br />bow trout in many areas of its historic range, com- <br />promising genetic integrity. The Colorado River <br />cutthroat trout conservation team has developed a <br />database that is updated annually to track genetic <br />information for each population. Seven categories <br />have been identified for determining the genetic <br />status of each population and a determination of <br />appropriate management actions. Populations with <br />