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Springs pupfishes to determine the extent of genetic change after <br />10 years of maintenance in a hatchery environment. He found that <br />genetic diversity did not change, that heterozygosity was retained <br />in these fish during that time period. Buth and Murphy (1984) <br />compared razorback sucker from Lake Mohave, AZ-NV with F1 <br />razorbacks produced at Dexter NFH (parental stock from Lake <br />Mohave, AZ). They looked at these fish to evaluate genetic <br />composition of the samples as well as possible introgressive <br />influence of flannelmouth sucker (Catostomus latipinnis). They <br />determined that in terms of introgressed genes, the hatchery stock <br />was "at least as good as, if not better than, the Lake Mohave <br />natural populations". They further concluded that "as long as the <br />breeding stock" is obtained "from natural populations, the <br />breeding program at the Dexter hatchery can be quite successful". <br />In an attempt to incorporate even greater diversity into the <br />Dexter maintained razorback sucker brood, 2,000 larval razorbacks <br />were collected from Lake Mohave in spring 1985. They are being <br />reared at Dexter and will be utilized as broodfish when they reach <br />sexual maturity in 1987. Of the 1,539 surviving fish, 625 were <br />kept for broodfish, 100 sent to Don Buth at UCLA for <br />electrophoretic analysis (results not available), and 814 stocked <br />in Eagle Creek, a tributary of the Gila River in eastern Arizona. <br />Because the majority of the mature Colorado squawfish broodstock <br />held at Dexter is F1 progeny produced from a single wild female <br />(Toney 1974), attempts have been made to secure a more genetically <br />diverse lot of broodfish. Anew lot of squawfish broodstock is <br />being reared at Dexter to take the place of the existing brood. <br />They were produced from 4 or 5 female and 7 or 8 male wild <br />squawfish at Willow Beach National Fish Hatchery (Willow Beach <br />NFH) in 1981 (Hamman 1981b). <br />Although extremely scarce, attempts are still being made to <br />collect wild adult bonytai] from Lake Mohave in order to <br />incorporate greater diversity into the bonytail broodstock. The <br />current bonytail broodfish were produced from six females and five <br />males in 1981 (Hamman 1982); no other fish were available. <br />In order to maintain the genetic diversity of other captive held <br />fishes at Dexter (i.e., gambusia, pupfishes, etc.), additional <br />wild fish are now brought it periodically to mix .:nth ?nual <br />numbers of hatchery wish. <br />OPERATIONAL PROCEDURES <br />Holding such an array of fishes requires care to ensure isolation <br />to prevent mixing of genomes and/or other adverse interactions <br />-34- <br />