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<br />li' <br />11]&' <br /> <br />~ <br />I <br />~ <br /> <br />" <br />1\\ <br />~ <br />" <br /> <br />N ~ <br />~, ~ <br />'I ~ <br />Jj <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />f.tcllpc(' +- I 4 u ~ <br />iCj~2 <br /> <br />1..\Jr I~ /~/ <br /> <br />U. S. Fish and Ivildlife Service's <br />White River Fishes Study <br /> <br />K. C. Harper and H. M. Tyus <br />U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service <br />447 East Main St., Suite 4 <br />Vernal, Utah 84078 <br /> <br />ABSTRACT <br /> <br />The U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service initiated a <br />study of the fishes of the White River, Colorado and Utah, <br />in 1981 as part of a larger study of the upper Colorado <br />River Basin. Results from a standardized sampling program <br />indicated seven native species (Catostomus discobolus, <br />Catostomus latipinnis, Cottus bairdi, Gila robusta, Prosopium <br />williamsoni, Ptychocheilus lucius, and Rhinichthys osculus) <br />were present in the White River. f. lucius was uncommon but <br />found throughout the study area. Radiotelemetry indicated <br />f. lucius utilized the White River all year. Among exotic <br />species, Cyprinus carpio, Ictalurus punctatus, Notropis <br />lutrensis and Richardsonius balteatus were the most abundant <br />and widely distributed. <br /> <br />INTRODUCTION <br /> <br />The U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) began a study of the <br />mainstem fishes of the upper Colorado River Basin in July, 1979. <br />This study included the Colorado River from Lake Powell to Palisade, <br />Colorado and the Green River from its confluence with the Colorado <br />River upstream to Split Mountain Canyon in Dinosaur National Monu- <br />ment. The study was expanded in the fall of 1980 to include the <br />Yampa and White River stydies, in Colorado and Utah. <br /> <br />The FWS and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) signed a memo- <br />randum of understanding in the spring of 1981 to study the fishes of <br />the White River, Colorado and Utah. Primary objectives of this study <br />included the evaluation of the White River as habitat for endangered <br />Colorado River fishes and to provide baseline data. The following <br />programs were designed to aid in meeting those objectives: (1) a <br />standardized sampling program for all fishes, (2) a radiotelementry <br />program for Colorado squawfish, Ptychocheilus lucius, and (3) a <br />program to determine the presence, distribution and abundance of <br />young-of-the-year (YOY) Colorado squawfish. This paper provides an <br />overview and summary of the study to date. <br /> <br />41 <br /> <br />en I ro-z. <br />.-- <br /> <br />/ <br /> <br />071{/b- <br /> <br />~ <br />