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METHODS <br />Young of year <br />The study area was divided into three sub-reaches for comparative analysis of YOY catch and <br />habitat data: above canyon (RK 204 - 199.4); canyon (RK 199.2 - 190.4); and, below canyon (RK185.6- <br />176). In 1992, low velocity habitats were sampled on four occasions in conjunction with the fish <br />community sampling. Beginning in 1993, fish community sampling was reduced to twice annually and <br />specific YOY sampling trips were added to better determine time of hatch, YOY densities, growth, and <br />habitat relationships. Larval and young of year fish were collected with a beach seine (4.6 m; 1.5 mm <br />mesh) or a smaller one-man seine (1 m; 0.8 mm mesh). Larval drift nets (fished passively and towed <br />through main channel habitats), larval dip nets, and larval light traps were used throughout the study, but <br />did not prove effective. An effort was made to identify, enumerate, and release fish (see Appendix Table <br />1 for list of species encountered). However, if necessary, fish were preserved in 10% buffered formalin <br />for lab processing. Physical data was collected to characterize the habitat (Appendix Table 2 for <br />definition of habitat types) as well as the specific area seined according to the Interagency Standardized <br />Monitoring Program ISMP guidelines (refer to McAda et al 1994). Catch per unit effort (CPE) is <br />presented as fish / meterZ~ Arithmetic means were calculated for summary analyses. Hatching dates <br />were back-calculated for each Age 0 cohort using formula developed by Muth (1990). Standard lengths <br />of Age 0 Gila spp. (required to calculate days after hatch) were generated from total lengths collected in <br />the field and lab using the following regression: <br />SL = 2.02 +.7205 (TL) <br />Spawning date was calculated by subtracting an additional 6 days from the hatch date (from Muth et al. <br />1985, Marsh 1985). Spawning period was determined for an entire sample of YOY chubs collected on <br />one occasion each summer. The results of that analysis were plotted against the environmental variable <br />(flow and temperature) to characterize the condition at the time of spawn. Various flow and temperature <br />parameters were correlated with July and August YOY CPEs (Table 1), hatching dates, growth of YOY, <br />and habitat type availability. Pearson correlation coefficients, analysis of variance, t-tests and <br />multinomial tests for habitat preference were run on STATISTIX . <br />3 <br />