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<br />a tributary to the Little Snake River in south-central Wyoming. Our goal was to examine <br />the effects of human-made instream structures on movements of the three species in the <br />system. Fish were captured and implanted with passive integrated transponder (PIT) tags <br />in three segments of Muddy Creek formed by human-made structures during fall 2004. <br />Movements over structures between April and August 2005 were evaluated using fixed <br />locality monitoring stations that recorded tagged fish upon passage. Reaches throughout <br />the study area were sampled in July and August 2005 by electrofishing. Monitoring <br />stations detected movements of 393 fish through the stations and sampling by <br />electro fishing recovered 200 fish. Bluehead suckers appeared to be the most mobile <br />species. Fish moved downstream, but not upstream, at two instream structures, and both <br />upstream and downstream at a third structure. Probable bluehead sucker and <br />flannelmouth sucker spawning runs up an ephemeral tributary of Muddy Creek were <br />identified in one segment. PIT -tag technology was useful in detecting fish movements, <br />all three native fish species were mobile, human-made structures formed barriers to <br />upstream movements, and source/sink dynamics may be occurring among segments of <br />Muddy Creek formed by human-made structures. <br /> <br />8. Closed Population Estimates of Humpback Chub (Gila cypha) in the Little <br />Colorado River, Grand Canyon, AZ <br /> <br />Author: DAVID R. VAN HA VERBEKE, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 323 N. <br />Leroux, Suite 401, Flagstaff, AZ 86001 <br /> <br />Abstract: From 2000 to 2005, a series of two-pass, closed mark-recapture efforts were <br />conducted in the Little Colorado River (LCR) to determine the abundance of humpback <br />chub (Gila cypha). Since 2001, the annual spring abundance estimates of humpback chub <br />~ 150 mm TL have ranged from 2,082 (SE = 242) to 3,419 (SE = 480). Spring spawning <br />abundance estimates for humpback chub ~ 200 (age-4+ adults) have ranged from 1,421 <br />(SE = 209) to 2,002 (SE = 463). A comparison of these numbers with closed mark- <br />recapture studies performed in the early 1990s indicates that there has been a decline in <br />the spring spawning abundance of humpback chub in the LCR since the early 1990s. This <br />trend has been independently confirmed by open population model assessments. Since <br />2000, the annual fall abundance estimates for humpback chub ~ 150 mm have ranged <br />from 1,064 (SE = 33) to 2,774 (SE = 209). These efforts suggest that the annual fall <br />abundances of humpback chub ~ 150 mm in the LCR have remained relatively stable <br />since mark-recapture efforts conducted in the early 1990s. Annual fall abundance <br />estimates for humpback chub ~ 200 mm since 2000 have ranged from 483 (SE = 48) to <br />897 (SE = 105). Taken together, the data suggest that the observed declines in humpback <br />chub abundance in the LCR since the early 1990s may be largely in the portion of the <br />population that migrates between the mainstem Colorado River and the LCR for <br />spawning activities. Abundance estimates for 2005 are provisional until approval by <br />Grand Canyon Monitoring and Research Center. <br /> <br />10 <br />