Laserfiche WebLink
26 <br />Habitat requirements of young and juvenile razorback suckers in the wild are <br />largely unknown, particularly in native riverine environments. Prior to 1991, <br />the last confirmed documentation of razorback sucker juveniles in the Upper <br />Basin was a capture in the Colorado River near Moab, Utah (Taba et al. 1965). <br />In 1991, two early juvenile (36.6 and 39.3 mm TL) razorback suckers were <br />collected in the lower Green River near Hell Roaring Canyon (Gutermuth et al. <br />1994). Razorback sucker larvae also have been collected from Jensen, Utah, <br />above the Jensen Bridge to the Ouray Bridge on the Green River from 1992 to <br />present (Robert Muth, pers.comm.). Additionally, limited numbers of razorback <br />young-of-year were captured in Old Charlie Wash in 1995 (Modde 1996) and 1996 <br />(Tim Modde, pers.comm.). Also, a few larval razorback suckers have been <br />collected below the confluence of the Yampa and Green rivers. <br />The RIP currently is engaged in an intensive effort to restore and manage <br />flooded bottomland habitats for the overall benefit of endangered fishes. <br />Naturally functioning, highly productive low-velocity habitats which provide <br />food, enhanced water temperatures, shelter from high velocities, nursery <br />rearing habitats and spawning habitats are thought to be an essential <br />component of the life history of some or perhaps all of the native and <br />endangered fishes, including the razorback sucker. Throughout the Upper <br />Colorado River Basin, however, many such habitats have been hydrologically cut <br />off from the main channel of the rivers and are no longer accessible to native <br />and endangered fishes. The Service believes that successful restoration of <br />functional floodplain habitats of~sufficient quantity, quality and spatial <br />distribution to support survival, growth, reproduction, and recruitment will <br />contribute to recovery of razorback sucker. <br />The humpback chub is endemic to the Colorado River Basin and is part of a <br />native fish fauna traced to the Miocene epoch in fossil records (Miller 1955, <br />Minckley et al. 1986). Humpback chub remains have been dated to about <br />4000 B.C., but the fish was not described as a species until the 1940's <br />(Miller 1946), presumably because of its restricted distribution in remote <br />white water canyons (USFWS 1990b). Because of this, its original distribution <br />is not known. <br />Until the 1950's, the humpback chub was known only from the Grand Canyon. <br />During surveys in the 1950's and 1960's humpback chub were found in the upper <br />Green River including specimens from Echo Park, Island Park, and Swallow <br />Canyon (Smith 1960. Vanicek et a1.,1970). Individuals also were reported from <br />the lower Yampa River (Holden and Stalnaker 1975b), the White River in Utah <br />