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. ,, <br />known about the razorback sucker, but migration to spawning areas and repeated <br />use of the same sites have been reported (Tyus and Karp, in press). <br />Early studies of fish migration were directed at understanding migratory <br />patterns and factors affecting the control of fish migration. One outstanding <br />contribution was the olfactory hypothesis for salmon homing proposed 'by Hasler <br />and Wisby (1951). They suggested that young salmon imprint to the odo'~,r of <br />their natal tributary, store this information in a long-term olfactor <br />memory, and later use this memory to relocate the stream during spawning <br />migrations. In the following 40 years, many other workers have tested this <br />hypothesis and further refined it. It is now recognized that fish imp int to a <br />"home-site olfactory bouquet" which consists of environmental. odors perhaps <br />including both a geologic and species-specific component (Hasler and Scholz <br />1983,. Foster 1985). However, our knowledge of the adaptive significance of <br />migrations and reproductive cycles is poor for all but a few, commercially" <br />important species. <br />Migration patterns of adult Colorado squawfish are similar year to year. <br />These movements are presumably an orientation to environmental condit'ons in <br />the spawning reaches, and movements of fishes in up- and downstream d'rections <br />is suggestive of an olfactory orientation mechanism (Harden-Jones 196, Hasler <br />and Scholz 1983). Some behaviors associated with olfactory orientatio in <br />salmonids were exhibited by Colorado squawfish, and the presence of spring-fed <br />tributaries and other water inputs in spawning reaches may provide pi oting <br />cues. Tributary streams may provide gross cues for long-distance orie tation, <br />while more subtle cues, unique to specific sites, may be used for egg <br />deposition (Tyus, In press). Reproductive by-products from previously hatched <br />young (Foster 1985) may also be included in a home-site olfactory bouquet. <br />Colorado squawfish larvae may imprint such odors in the areas in which they <br />develop, and later recognize these odors as migrating adults. <br />Recaptured and radiotagged adult Colorado squawfish have demonstrated a <br />fidelity (repeated use) to the same spawning areas (Wick et al. 1983,Tyus <br />1985, in preparation), however, it has yet to be shown that the fish return to <br />natal areas for spawning. The similarity of their behavior to that of many <br />other fishes makes it probable that they do so, and this could lead to <br />reproductive isolation and separate genetic stocks. It is noted that the <br />maintenance of discreet stocks can be developed through spawning site <br />imprinting and homing (Horrall 1981), and thus, specific migration routes and <br />positive or negative rheotaxis in homing orientation suggests different <br />genetic stocks (reviewed by Smith 1985). Some genetic interchange between <br />stocks may occur from fish that "stray" from one area to another, and could be <br />important for successful evolution of the species (Baker 1982; Leggett 1984). <br />It is therefore important that the genetic identity of separate stocks of <br />Colorado squawfish be identified and protected. <br />Knowledge of the reproductive ecology of the razorback sucker is poorly <br />known, principally because successful recruitment is lacking throughout the <br />Colorado River Basin (Lanigan and Tyus 1989, Marsh and Minckley 1989). <br />However, razorback sucker migrations have been documented, and there is <br />compelling evidence that homing behavior occurs as in the white sucker. The <br />possibility of at least two separate spawning stocks of the razorback sucker <br />4 <br />