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<br />1 <br /> <br /> <br />1 <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />1 <br />t <br />into the river adjacent to the backwater. The non-acclimated suckers served as a control. <br />We examined ifpre-release acclimation was able to affect the dispersal distance, dispersal <br />rate, or behavioral patterns of razorback suckers following stocking, as well as examining <br />the habitats that razorback suckers utilize within Canyonlands National Park. <br />MATERIALS AND METHODS <br />Sources and Transportation of Fish <br />Thirty razorback suckers were obtained from the USFWS Ouray fish hatchery located <br />near Vernal, Utah. The 30 fish were the progeny of 1 female and 2 males collected from <br />the Green River at the Jensen site (River Kilometer[RK] 490; RK 0.0 is the confluence of <br />the Green and Colorado Rivers). The suckers were the control group for a canceled <br />chemoreception experiment. (Tom Pruitt, USFWS, personal communique). <br />The razorback suckers were transported in a 2000-L tank with oxygen bubblers from the <br />Ouray National Fish Hatchery to the Green River at Mineral Bottom (RK 84) on June 16, <br />1998. Fifteen fish were then transferred to 100-L Coleman coolers, lashed inside of a <br />5.5-m Achilles inflatable boat. Two transportation trips were made downstream to the <br />release point at Millard Bottom backwater (RK 54). Two water changes were made <br />during transport to maintain adequate oxygen levels during the 45 minute trip. <br />Transmitter Attachment <br />All suckers were measured (TLmm) and weight (g, Appendix 1), and had an Advanced <br />Telemetry Systems (ATS©) 90-day radio transmitter attached. Each transmitter was <br />verified to be functioning properly before being attached to a fish by removing the <br />deactivation magnet and listening for a signal with the ATS receiver. Transmitters were <br />5.5 by 1.0 cm, outfitted with a beveled leading edge and a tapered rear cone, and <br />attachment holes had been drilled through the epoxy. The holes were placed 1 /3 up from <br />the bottom on both ends of the transmitter. Transmitters were sewn with 9-kg test <br />monofilament line onto the midline of the suckers' dorsal keels directly above the <br />pectoral fins. Each suture was inserted ~10 mm below the dorsal keel surface and three <br />square knots held each transmitter firmly against the keel. Each transmitter trailed a 25- <br />cm whip antenna made of very fine stainless steel wire. The whip antennae terminated 1 <br />to 10 cm anterior to the upper lobe of the caudal fin. None of the whip antennae needed <br />to be trimmed in order to avoid contact with the caudal fin. <br />This external attachment method was modified from Mueller and Marsh (1998) and was <br />designed to allow the fish to eventually "shed" the tag. Experiments in circular tanks <br />showed that the monofilament sutures would be pushed to the dorsal keel surface and <br />expelled by razorback suckers over time. A few fish shed their transmitter within the first <br />month, but most fish retained their transmitters for two or more months. This method is <br />4 <br />r <br />