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chub Gila cypha, bonytail chub G. ele4ans, roundtail chub G. robusta, speckled <br />dace Rhinichthys osculus, and Kendall Warm Springs dace Rhinichthys o. <br />thermalis), catostomids (razorback sucker Xyrauchen texanus, flannelmouth <br />sucker Catostomus lati~innis, bluehead sucker C. discobolus, mountain sucker <br />C. platyrhvnchus), salmonids (Colorado River cutthroat trout Oncorhynchus <br />clarki pleuriticus; Rocky Mountain whitefish Prosoaium williamsoni), and <br />sculpins (Cottus species; Tyus et al. 1982a; Behnke and Benson 1983; Woodling <br />1985). All mainstream fishes persist today despite the introduction of <br />numerous non-native fishes of which about 10 species are common in the Green <br />River basin (Tyus et al. 1982a; Wick et al. 1985; USFWS, unpublished data). <br />Rare fishes usually occur in greatest numbers in unaltered or natural river <br />systems (e.g., Colorado squawfish in Yampa River, humpback chub in Little <br />Colorado River) and their presence is presumably associated with maintenance <br />of usable fish habitat due to a natural regimen of fluctuating seasonal and <br />annual flows. <br />Historically, native cyprinids and catostomids were widely distributed <br />and abundant in mainstream habitats of the Colorado River basin (Jordan and <br />Evermann 1896). However, four of these fishes, the Colorado squawfish, <br />razorback sucker, humpback chub, and bonytail chub, are now threatened with <br />extinction presumably due to the combined effects of habitat loss (including <br />regulation of natural flow, temperature, and sediment regimes); proliferation <br />of introduced fishes; and other man-induced disturbances (Miller 1961; <br />Hinckley 1973; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 1987a). The Colorado squawfish, <br />humpback chub, and bonytail chub are federally protected as endangered species <br />under provisions of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (U.S. Fish and <br />Wildlife Service 1986). The razorback sucker, a species proposed for federal <br />listing as endangered, is protected by state statutes in Arizona, California, <br />Colorado, Nevada, and Utah (U.S. Department of Interior 1990). <br />In the lower Colorado River basin (below Lee Ferry, AZ), the Colorado <br />squawfish has been extirpated, relict populations of bonytail chub and <br />razorback sucker remain in some impoundments but neither species are presumed <br />self-sustaining, and humpback chub reproduce only in the Little Colorado River <br />and presumably in nearby mainstream Colorado River (Hinckley 1973, 1983; <br />Kaeding and Zimmerman 19$3; C.O. Hinckley, pers. comm.). In the upper Colorado <br />River basin, Colorado squawfish persists in the Yampa and lower Green (below <br />the confluence of the Yampa River) rivers, the upper Colorado River, and the <br />lower San Juan River (Archer et al. 1985; Meyer and Moretti 1988; Tyus, in <br />press). The humpback chub is reproducing in the Yampa, Green, and upper <br />Colorado rivers (Archer et al. 1985; Kaeding et al. 1990; Karp and Tyus <br />1990a). The razorback sucker persists in the lower Yampa and Green rivers, the <br />mainstream Colorado River, and the lower San Juan River, but there is little <br />indication of recruitment in these remnant populations (McAda and Wydowski <br />1980; Meyer and Moretti 1988; Lanigan and Tyus 1989; Tyus and Karp 1990). <br />Bonytail chub are extremely rare in the upper Colorado River basin (Valdez and <br />Clemmer 1982; U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service 1987a). All four fishes have <br />been extirpated in the Green River between Flaming Gorge Dam and the Yampa <br />River confluence, presumably due, in part, to the loss of usable habitat <br />following closure of the dam (Vanicek et al. 1970). The Yampa River supports <br />all of its native fish fauna including self-sustaining populations of some of <br />the rare species and is considered important to the maintenance and <br />6 <br />