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<br />from home ranges. In the Green River, adult Colorado pikeminnow used the following <br />habitats in rank order: slow runs, slackwaters, eddies, and backwaters, where depths <br />averaged 2.5 to 4.5 feet and velocities were 0 to 1.0 fps. In the unregulated Yampa <br />~ River, the fish occupied off-channel backwater and embayment habitats that were <br />probably sources of food organisms (Wick and Hawkins 1989). The fish were found in <br />depths that varied between habitats, averaging 2 to 3.5 feet in backwaters, <br />embayments and runs, and 5 to 9.5 feet in eddies (Wick and Hawkins 1989). <br />Movement of the fish into backwater habitats was attributed, in part, to feeding (Wick <br />and Hawkins 1989). Winter habitat use was similar in the 15-Mile Reach, where pools <br />~ and runs were used 77-95% of the time (Osmundson et al. 1995). <br />In spring and early summer, when rivers are rising; but prior to spawning migration, <br />habitat use by adult Colorado pikeminnow depends on water conditions. The fish were <br />most often located in seasonally-inundated shorelines, including backwaters or <br />~ bottomlands (Tyus 1990). Radiotracking data indicated use of shoreline backwater <br />habitat in a low-flow year (1981) and use of flooded bottomlands during ahigh-flow year <br />(1983) (Tyus and Karp 1989). Flooded shorelines were also used by adult Colorado <br />pikeminnow during the iwo high-flow years, 1983 and 1984 (Tyus et al. 1987). <br />Seasonally-flooded bottoms were used from late April to May of 1985 and 1987, during <br />~ flow events that represent average annual high flow events (i.e., 226 - 283 m3/s). Wick <br />et al. (1983) noted in 1982 (an average-flow year), that adult Colorado pikeminnow <br />used flooded shoreline areas in spring, but moved to backwater habitats as the river <br />level dropped. <br />~ Hab~at use also is influenced by flow regime. Under moderate flow conditions, adults <br />in the UCR were found in backwaters, eddies, and pools 90% of the time, and in runs <br />only 10% of the time (Osmundson et al. 1995). When flows were low, adu~s were <br />found in runs 97% of the time. The apparent shift in preference is probably the result of <br />changes in habitat availability caused by changes in flow (e.g., inundated gravel pits <br />simply do not exist at low flow; Osmundson et al. 1995). <br />The availability of inundated gravel pits in the UCR can create a distorted view of the <br />general habitat requirements for the species. In the UCR, Valdez et al. (1982) reported <br />that the average water depth where adults were captured was about 6 ft, which is <br />much deeper than the average depth recorded for adults in the Green River. The <br />~ difference probably reflects the importance of inundated gravel pits, which are present <br />in the UCR, but not in the Green River. <br />Adult Colorado pikeminnow are piscivorous (Vanicek 1967), but will consume other <br />prey (Beckman 1953, USFWS 1991). Their na#ural prey were native suckers and <br />~ chubs, which are readily consumed. They also will consume nonnatives, but <br />occasionally with deleterious consequences; there are several accounts of pikeminnow <br />choking on the spines of channel catfish (Vanicek 1967, McAda 1983, Pimental et al. <br />1985, Quarterone 1993). <br /> <br />11 <br /> <br />