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This study does not suggest one transmitter or battery type is better <br />than another. Rather, I attributed most of the observed differences in <br />tracking success to other, unknown factors that need to be evaluated. Although <br />my use of a ratio of the field contact period to the theoretical radio life <br />appears to be a crude way to evaluate radiotracking success, a comparison of <br />the average performance obtained here (47.3X) with that of other investigators <br />indicates it is accurate. I determined this by calculating performance ratios <br />fcr all other radiotracking efforts on Colorado squawfish in the Green River <br />Basin. Radant et al. (1983), using similar equipment in the White and Green <br />Rivers (similar water conductivities), obtained an average performance ratio <br />of 47.6X for t•e eight fish they studied. Wick et al. (1983), using different <br />type radios ano receivers in the Yampa River (a smaller tributary with lower <br />water conductivity), had a 49.6ro ratio for 12 fish. [Holden and Selby (1978) <br />implanted five Colorado squawfish, but terminated their study due to equipment <br />failure. I did not calculate a ratio for their work.] <br />These results indicated that investigators using commercially available <br />radios and tunable receivers can anticipate long-term success even in large, <br />high conductivity rivers, if their radiotracking limitations are understood <br />and enough radio tagged fish are used. <br />I found that Colorado squawfish were easier than razorback suckers to <br />radiotrack because they used shallow habitats most of the time. Razorback <br />suckers were more difficult to track in spring and fall because they used <br />deeper habitats. Radios with larger, more powerful batteries could not be <br />used because the sucker is a smaller species (<_500 mm in length). <br />Effects of implanted radios on fish growth were evaluated from a <br />comparison of growth rates between recaptured implanted and recaptured non- <br />implanted fish (Tyus 1988). Although lengths of all recaptured fish were not <br />available, a comparison (Student's t) of the growth of 14 implanted Colorado <br />squawfish (mean = 11.2 mm/year, SO = 10.2) indicated no difference in growth <br />between these fish and 59 nonimplanted fish in the same size ranye (mean = <br />10.2 mm/year, SD = 11.3). Average growth rates of two razorback suckers <br />(2.5 mm/year) from which implants were removed compared favorably with 39 <br />nonimplanted fish (2.2 mm/year). This suggests that the implanted transmitters <br />did not interfere significantly with feeding behavior and growth. <br />The ratio of radio module weight to the body weight of Colorado squawfish <br />averaged less than 1% (Table 2). This was also true for implanted razorback <br />suckers. Long-term tracking by Mesing and Wicker (1986) and Miller and Menzel <br />(1986) was also associated with a radio-to-fish weight ratio of less than <br />1.5%. This small ratio, and the use of beeswax as a coating for the radios, <br />may have aided in the retention of radios implanted in this study; transmitter <br />expulsion such as that reported by Marty and Summerfelt (1986) was not <br />observed. <br />EVALUATION OF BIAS IN COLLECTION DATA <br />Habitat data recorded at the point of capture by electrofishing for 101 <br />Colorado squawfish in 1980 and 1981 in the Green River (Tyus et al. 1984) were <br />compared with habitat data (1281 observations) of radio telenetered fish. <br />148 <br />