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<br />Razorback sucker <br />Razorback suckers were historically common in the portions of the UCRB, including the <br />~ mainstream Green and UCR (reviewed by Minckley et al. 1991). In the UCR, fish have <br />been reported from Moab, UT to Rifle, CO (Kidd 1977, Burdick 1992, Westwater <br />Engineering 1996). Juvenile razorbacks were captured near Moab in the 1960's (Taba <br />et al. 1965). More recent collections (Valdez et al. 1982, Archer et al. 1985, <br />Osmundson and Kaeding 1989) have shown very low and declining numbers below <br />~ Palisade. Above Palisade, a few individuals have been reported from Highline Lake <br />and isolated ponds near Rifle and Debeque (Burdick 1992). <br />The largest remaining population of razorback suckers occurs in Lake Mohave of the <br />lower basin of the Colorado River. Because recruitment is very low, the population <br />continues to decline in abundance (Marsh 1995). The only remaining riverine <br />~ population occurs in the Green River near the confluence with the Yampa River; it <br />consists of less than 1,000 fish and may be declining (Lanigan and Tyus 1989, Modde <br />et al. 1996). A few individuals also have been collected in the mainstream Colorado <br />River and in the lower San Juan River. In the upper Colorado River, 47 razorback <br />suckers were collected during the two years of the baseline survey, but most of these <br />~ (79%) came from two flooded gravel pits: Walter Walker State Wildlife Area (RM 164) <br />and Clifton Pond (RM 118; Valdez et al. 1982). Captures of razorback suckers declined <br />in the UCR from 1974 to 1988 (Osmundson and Kaeding 1991), and only one individual <br />was captured in six years of the ISMP (McAda et al. 1994). The species has probably <br />been extirpated from the UCR. Furthermore, there is no indication that recruitment is <br />~ adequate to support existing populations (McAda and Wydoski 1980; Meyer and Moretti <br />1988; Lanigan and Tyus 1989; Modde et al. 1995). <br />Bonytail <br />~ The bonytail was apparently common in some portions of the UCRB, including the <br />Green River (USFWS 1990a), but it may never have been common in the UCR <br />(Westwater Engineering 1996). It is thought to have been extirpated from the UCRB <br />(Valdez and Clemmer 1982). The last individuals reported in the basin were one fish <br />captured near Black Rocks (Kaeding et al. 1986) and five captured in Cataract Canyon <br />(Valdez and Williams 1993). The few individuals that have been captured in Lake <br />Mohave may represent the last of the species in nature. All other individuals exist as <br />hatchery stocks. Virtually nothing is known about the life history of this species except <br />that it inhabited the main channel of large rivers and also could survive in reservoirs <br />(USFWS 1990a). <br />• <br /> <br />7 <br />C~ <br />