Laserfiche WebLink
<br />".. . 1 <br /> <br />bass (<8 cm), yellow bullhead (<14 cm), channel catfish (<13 cm) and bonytail (<8 cm) <br />were all found to be aggressive predators of 10-50 mm razorback sucker. <br /> <br />INTRODUCTION <br /> <br />This past year (2003) represented the second ofa four-year field effort designed to <br />describe the early life ecology ofbonytail and razorback sucker in CHLP. Last year we <br />conducted extensive surveys aimed at measuring standing crop of the native fish <br />community. Both species had successfully produced young and the community was <br />estimated to include approximately 1,100 razorbacks and 6,000 bonytail (>15 <br />cm)(www.fort.usgs.gov/oroducts/oubs/11000/11000-A.odf). The pond's standing crop <br />was 4,350 fish/ha with a biomass of 635 kglha. In 2002, bonytail continued to produce <br />young but we did not detect any measurable recruitment during the past two years for <br />razorback sucker. <br /> <br />The following description of work is grouped into four categories. Telemetry studies <br />were conducted on adult bonytail from mid-March through early May. The goal was to <br />examine movements, behavior, and locations frequented by adult bonytail during their <br />suspected spawning period. The second major activity was to use underwater <br />videography to verify suspected spawning sites, monitor spawning behavior, determine <br />timing of peak: spawning activity and document possible predators. <br /> <br />The third category included physical measurements, trammel netting, light trapping, <br />water quality monitoring, map surveys and acoustical tests. Mapping survey results will <br />be incorporated into the telemetry results to refine movement data. Data collected for <br />these efforts is currently being analyzed and will be presented in next year's report. <br /> <br />We also conducted a series of predator/prey tank tests to identify potential predators <br />observed in CHLP and to examine suspected nonnative predators found elsewhere in the <br />basin. This work is being conducted at, and with the cooperation ofthe staff at USFWS <br />Willow Beach National Fish Hatchery and at Achii Hanyo Fish Facility. <br /> <br />BONYTAIL TELEMETRY WORK <br /> <br />Methods <br /> <br />On 18 March 2003, 11 adult bonytail were collected from four sets of trammel nets <br />distributed throughout the pond. Their sizes ranged from 358 t6 514 mm. Ten fish (404 <br />to 514 mm [x=453 mm]) were fitted with a sonic micro transmitter (8x35 mm). Due to <br />limited battery life (60 d), transmitters were externally attached to the fish to avoid <br />convalescence that is necessary with surgical implantation (photo 1). <br /> <br />3 <br />