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<br />Park, bluehead were rare under 28 cm and the 2001 histogram (Figure A3) was similar to 2000, <br />even though sample size was less in 2001 (Table 8). On the Colorado River, juvenile size <br />bluehead sucker were fairly common and there were no breaks in the histogram between 10 and <br />44 cm (Figure AS and A6). The Dolores River bluehead sucker size structure in 2001 was <br />noticeably different from all other sites. In both 2000 and 2001 no bluehead sucker over 28 cm <br />were collected. In 2001 a very high number of yearling (325) bluehead were caught (Figure A4), <br />but no fish in that size-group were collected in 2000. About the same number offish between <br />19 cm and 28 cm were collected in both years (11 in 2000 and 18 in 2001). <br /> <br />Table 8. Mean lengths of Blue head sucker captured during the study period (1998 to 2001), <br />Yampa, Colorado and Dolores Rivers. <br /> <br /> 1998,a 1999, b 2000,c 2001,d <br /> Mean lenoth of bluehead sucker Incm <br />Sevens 33.5,cd 33.6,cd 31.3,abd 30.0,abc <br />Duffy 36.5 37.9 37.6 36.2 <br />Lily Park 34.4, d 33.5,c <br />Corn Lake 36.5,cd 33.3,bd 34.8,bc <br />Clifton 31.8,d 33.5,c <br />Dolores 23.6 12.1 <br /> Total number in sample - Number less than 15 cm <br />Sevens 314 - 0 187 - 0 180- 0 89-0 <br />Duffy 56-0 102- 0 45 -0 41 -3 <br />Lily Park 347 - 3 212 - 0 <br />Corn Lake 1212 -3 1010-16 1283 -31 <br />Clifton 1374-51 1228 - 35 <br />Dolores 11-0 343-308 <br /> <br />*a, b, c, d following a mean length indicates significant difference (2 tail test) at @=0.5 for those <br />years. <br /> <br />The mean length of blue head sucker at Sevens in 2001 was smaller. Fewer large <br />bluehead sucker is consistent with reduced riffle habitat availability due to low flows in 2000 and <br />2001. The smaller bluehead mean length (30 cm) at Sevens could be an indicator ofa change in <br />habitat availability. In contrast to Sevens, Duffy had the highest mean lengths for bluehead <br />sucker consistently for the four years. The high Duffy mean length (36 to 38 cm, Table 8) is due <br />to lack offish under 35 cm, indicating Duffy had steady and heavy predation pressure throughout <br />the study period. At Lily Park, bluehead sucker mean length was near 34 cm in both years even <br />with fewer fish less than 28 cm in 2000 (Table 8). The mean length of bluehead in the Colorado <br />River sites was 32 to 34 cm (Table 8) and appears to represent a healthy bluehead sucker size <br />structure, since habitat is abundant and predation or competition is not a factor. The Dolores <br />River had the smallest bluehead sucker mean length (12.1 cm) (Table 8) due to a very high <br />number of yearling fish and a very low number of adults. <br /> <br />The length frequency histograms were very similar for flannel mouth sucker for the first <br />three years at Sevens, but percentage offish between 30 and 42 cm increased in 2001 (Figure <br />A7) compared to prior years and mean length (43.8 cm) was significantly less (Table 9). <br /> <br />28 <br /> <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />