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<br />Results <br />More than three million razorback sucker were stocked at <br />fifteen localities in the Gila River drainage, Arizona in 1985 <br />(Table 1, Fig. 1). Most (86.5%) were fry transplanted in the <br />Salt River drainage (Table 2). <br />Prior to 1985, recapture of stocked razorback sucker was <br />limited to two collections (Table 3). However, in 1985 several <br />recaptures were made including two large suckers from the Gila <br />and Verde (unverified) rivers, respectively. Stocked razorback <br />sucker growth was evident with subfingerlings more than doubling <br />in size and fingerlings in Bonita Creek about 25% larger at time <br />of capture (Table 3). Uf note is the disparity in growth between <br />groups of razorback sucker fingerlings planted in three isolated <br />backwaters on Bonita Creek (Table 4). Stocked suckers grew best <br />in the backwater where other catostomids were absent from seine <br />collections. <br />Mainstem river sampling, including Eagle Creek (similarity <br />in collecting methods), failed to collect any razorback sucker <br />other than those during post-stocking dispersal and predation <br />studies on the Gila River (Table 5). The Salt River was not <br />sampled by electrofishing or netting due to equipment failure <br />during annual survey efforts. Data from the Verde River are <br />interesting in that despite the presence. of numerous introduced <br />fish species, native fishes still comprised nearly 38% of <br />combined collections. , <br />-5- <br />