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<br />164
<br />
<br />CALIFORNU FISH AND GAME
<br />
<br />
<br />FIG, <39, A ~ix and one.quarter pound mullet,
<br />
<br />Schools of --niall mullet can frequently be seen in the river "here their
<br />habit of schoolin(~ and leaping makes them easily recognizable. They are
<br />often to be seen at Laguna Dam ascending the weir in a thin sheet of ,,'alp:-,
<br />The muddiest waters of the Alamo and )Jew rivers seem to be to th:'lr
<br />liking as are their small partially cut-off lakes ",he:e the wa~er is bra,:kl:h
<br />and the temperature high, ::IIullet are numerous ll1 the qUIet canal;, ;Jl:d
<br />drain ditches of the Yuma Project, in the Imperial Yalley, and thnve 111
<br />the highly saline "aters of the Salton SE'a, In all of these "aters they arE'
<br />one o{the most abundant fishes.
<br />
<br />Size. Several hundred mullet were taken in gill-nets in the river (between
<br />the International Boun?a:y and Imperial Dam) and near the heads ~:
<br />canals diverting from 1t III January, February and May, 1942. T
<br />ranO'e in s;ze of these fish was 7.8 to 15,6 inches,28 ::\1ost of these mullet
<br />app~ared to belong to a size group of about 12 inches in length, The
<br />
<br />::s The nets used,here had a minimum mesh of 1i inches and a maximum me';' of
<br />4 inches (stretched measure).
<br />
<br />
<br />THE FISHERY OF THE LOWER COLORADO RIVER
<br />
<br />165
<br />
<br />mullet seen here were about 4 inches in length. (These were
<br />.)Mr. Leo Rossier has reported seeing mullet of about 6 pounds
<br />'iiguna Dam, but large ones do not seem to be common in the river.
<br />W!illet, 21.5 inches long which weighed 6,25 pounds, was taken in
<br />'ht.elin Lake, which is cut off from the river. Its origin there is
<br />oWn.
<br />::."cTbe mullet of the Salton Sea attain a much larger size, Those caught
<br />:'eiumnercial fishermen using gill-nets of 5-inch stretched mesh in early
<br />.,', averaged almost 5,2 pounds in weight, (Based on the fishermen's
<br />~,:'e8.tch records of 36,106 fish taken during the January-May period.)
<br />'.,1ew:measurements of Salton SeamuHet.have:been'made,bythe---:----=-'
<br />....Qn of Fish and Game. In October 1942, a catch of 80 fish taken
<br />''commercial gear was measured by the author. These fish averaged
<br />:"j$es in length (range, 18.5-24.5- inches) and 5.6 pounds in weight
<br />~.;3.';75-9.75 poun(Is). ' Due to the selectivity of the gear used, the
<br />:urn size of miIllet in' the Sea has not been determined. Several
<br />7ci81 fishermenxeport that a 12-pound fish is about the largest
<br />'l'llompson anifBryant (1920) reported that the average mullet
<br />''8.ea was between 2 and 2.5 feet in length. Evidently this referred'
<br />Ii in 1919.
<br />
<br />_.;~tion. Little is known of the life history of the mullet in the
<br />~o/River. In other parts of the world mullet are reported to be
<br />':~Wriers in salt water. Those found in the Colorado were probably
<br />-f:Xl;in or near the Gulf of California and then migrated upstream.
<br />eapparent lack of large mullet in the river near Yuma during the early
<br />,~of 1942 might indicate that the population at this season was
<br />~~~, only or largely of juveniles,
<br />..e have a slightly better knowledge of the mullet in the Salton Sea,
<br />., ,', ~e again much of it can only be conjecture. Here the fish are land-
<br />~ed~ They can migrate up drainage ditches or up the Alamo and
<br />!~8:itTivers for only short distances before their ascension is blocked,
<br />;k'f~jI'hirerore; their available spawning area is limited, It seems probable
<br />':':;,:~!A't th.ey.spawn in the Salton Sea itself ,yhere o<:eanic conditions are
<br />~q~~ula1ed'-b.v its E>alinity, It also seems probable that the bulk of the
<br />'::~-f.illalVIljng occurs in the shallow waters near the mouths of the Alamo and
<br />.~., '" ,.'rivers. Certainly there was a congregation of ripe or almost ripe
<br />. ,'such areas in the fall of 1942.
<br />'. ee females (21 to 25 inches) taken from the Salton Sea on Sep-
<br />:_27.1942, were almost ripe. All of 93 sexually mature mullet taken
<br />,'the Sea on October 29, 1942, were ripe or almost ripe. Several of
<br />, ~ eshad flowing milt and a few of the females extruded loose eggs
<br />subjected to gentle pressure, Mr, Leo Rossier made periodic
<br />)iations of the commercial catches throughout :November 1942, and
<br />that all the fish he saw were ripe. Since no further examinations
<br />possible, the duration of the spawning season is unknown.
<br />'al maturity of the mullet in the Sea is known to occur at at
<br />.5 inches in males and at 20.5 inches in females, (Based on an
<br />clon of 61 males and 46 females over 16.5 inches in length, taken
<br />e Sea on October 28th and 29th bv commercial fishermen and in
<br />.~' ental gill-net.) Possibly mull~t do become mature here at a
<br />'~e, but the nets took no smaller ones. Seine hauls and gill-net
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