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<br />compass direction) relative to the listening stations (Fig. 4). Some directional <br />error was caused by the acoustical dampening nature of aquatic vegetation and <br />false readings caused by signal reflection of large rip-rap. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />Fish numbers 6T333, 6T357, 6T364, 6T375 and 6T555 tended to be located in <br />the southeastern portion of the pond. This was an area characterized by patches <br />of submerged aquatic vegetation in moderately deep (1-2 m) water, a relatively <br />abrupt, open sandy shoreline, and woody riparian vegetation (Figs. 1 and 4). <br />Fish numbers 6T345 and 6T666 tended to be located in the northwest portion of <br />the pond. This was an area with little submerged vegetation, relatively shallow (< <br />1 m), a gently sloping shoreline with dense cattail, and woody riparian vegetation <br />(Figs. 1 and 4). Contacts with fish numbers 6T246 and 6T444 showed little <br />geographic pattern (Fig. 4) and 6T777 was never contacted in open water. <br /> <br />2004 Data. Tracking of smaller fish tagged in 2004 was performed continuously <br />after fish were released on April 8, but results were disappointing and generally <br />uninformative. Although data acquired during the initial days after release <br />suggested that smaller fish were present in open water throughout the day and <br />night and did not enter cover of the high levee during daylight, most fish <br />appeared to become stationary within a few days post release. This was <br />interpreted as indicating either tag loss or fish mortality. Two carcasses and <br />body parts of a third were associated with stationary signals, and two tags were <br />recovered. All fish were presumed expired when field studies were concluded on <br />05 May, and most or all likely were dead at least a week prior. Subsequent <br />experimental investigations of tagging small bonytail in hatchery raceways <br />resulted in mortality within 14 days for all treatments, including those fitted with <br />caudal tags and control groups. (Mueller et al. 2004). <br /> <br />Small bony tail clearly were more fragile than larger ones and new methods of <br />affixing transmitters that do not harm or kill the fish must be identified if reliable <br />telemetry data are to be acquired. Additionally, sonic tags in our situation <br />provided only a gross approximation of open-water habitat use. Rebounded <br />signals often were diffuse, and the number of valid coordinates was consequently <br />reduced. Preliminary investigations indicated that Lotek radio tags utilizing nano- <br />technology were unsatisfactory for use in the Cibola HLP because signals were <br />weak and detection radius was shorter than 10m for a tag suspended only 1 m <br />below the surface (Marsh and Mueller, unpublished data). <br /> <br />Conclusion <br /> <br />Telemetry studies at the Cibola High Levee Pond indicate that adult bony tail are <br />active during nighttime and spend the daylight hours dormant and hidden under <br />cover amongst large boulders. This observation is consistent with stomach <br />contents and proportion of empty guts, which indicated the most intense feeding <br />occurred at night (Marsh et al. 2004). Adult bony tail in Lake Mohave, a <br />mainstream Colorado River reservoir, showed a similar spatial distribution in <br /> <br />6 <br />