Laserfiche WebLink
7 <br />Table 6. Percentage of fish of different species in collections made with trammel nets at stations 4, 5, 6, and 7, <br />Green River, Utah, on different dates in 1974-75, and (for 9-10 December and 13-15 April) catch per unit of <br />effort (CPE).e (See Fig. 1 for locations of stations.) _ <br />Year, stations, dates, and (in parentheses) total number of fish caught on those dates <br />1974 1975 <br />Sand Wash Ouray Horseshoe Bend <br />(station 7) (station 6) Island Park (station 4) (station 5) <br />9-10 Dec. 13-15 April <br />(103) 5-8 Dec (61) 2-4 Oct. 6-9 Oct. <br />Speciesb Percent CPEe (22) Percent CPEa (129) (42) <br />Catostomus latipinnis (N) 52.4 10.2 95.0 65.6 0.40 27.1 45.3 <br />C. discobolus (N) - - - 19.7 0.10 57.4 14.3 <br />C. commersoni - - - 1.6 0.01 2.3 - <br />Xyrauchen texanus (N) 1.0 0.1 - 3.3 0.02 0.8 - <br />Cyprinus carpio 34.0 8.6 - - - 3.9 21.4 <br />Ptychocheilus Lucius (N- 1.9 0.11 - - - 0.8 4.8 <br /> <br />2.3 <br />Gila robusta (N) - - - - - <br />2.4 <br />Ictalurus punctatus 10.7 2.3 5.0 1.6 0.01 2.3 4.8 <br />Salmo gairdneri - - - 6.6 0.04 1.6 - <br />S. trutta - - - 1.5 0.01 1.6 - <br />Stizastedion uitreum - - - - - - 4.8 <br />Micropterus dolomieui - - - - - - 2.4 <br /> <br />aCPE =catch per unit effort; 1 unit of effort = 10 m of,net (2.1 m deep) set for 10 h. <br />bN =native species. <br />throughout the year. Even though introduced fish <br />composed most of the catch in the gravel pit, the - <br />flannelmouth sucker was still the most abundant <br />species. Carp (Cyprinus carpio), green sunfish (Lepo- <br />mis cyanellus) and black bullheads (Ictalurus melas) <br />had become well established and together made up <br />nearly a third of the total catch. <br />Razorback suckers were less common in the Colo- <br />rado River tlian in the gravel pit. A sample taken by <br />electrofishing in the Colorado River (near station 8) in <br />spring 1975 contained 127 flannelmouth suckers, 109 <br />bluehead suckers, and 1 razorback sucker. Another <br />collection, at the mouth of the Gunnison River (sta- <br />tion 9) in April 1976, yielded 96 flannelmouth suckers <br />and 86 bluehead suckers, but no razorback suckers. <br />Only a few razorback suckers were collected at other <br />locations in the basin (Table 6). A single razorback <br />sucker was collected in December 1974 at station 7, <br />and two in April and one in October 1975 at station 4. <br />None were collected at stations 1, 2, 5, or 6. The ab- <br />sence of razorback suckers in collections from the <br />upper Yampa River (stations 1 and 2; Table 3) prob- <br />ably indicated that they were rare in this section of the <br />river. However, their status at stations 5 and 6 is <br />uncertain because only one collection was made at <br />each locality. Razorback suckers were common near <br />station 6 in May 1978 (P. B. Holden,. personal com- <br />munication), when they were concentrated in a large <br />eddy near the mouth of the Duchesne River. Other <br />razorback suckers were found above station 5 and <br />below station 6 during the same period (D. Robinson, <br />personal communication). In general this species is <br />found in the Green River from its confluence with the <br />Colorado River upstream to its confluence with the <br />Yampa River (Fig. 2-. <br />Age and Growth <br />Growth <br />Scales from all razorback suckers were removed <br />from a key area midway between the lateral line and <br />the origin of the dorsal fin. We made scale impressions <br />on cellulose acetate cards (7.5 cm x 12.5 cm x <br />0.05 mm), using heat and pressure. The impressions <br />were magnified 80x on an Eberbach no. 2700 projector. <br />The scales of each fish were read twice. If the readings <br />agreed, the age was accepted. If the two readings did <br />not agree, the scale was examined a third time, and an <br />age assigned on the basis of the agreement of the third <br />reading with one of the first two. <br />Most razorback sucker scales were difficult to read. <br />The annuli were often indistinct and difficult to locate. <br />Closely spaced circuli and the "cutting over" of circuli <br />in the lateral fields were the characteristics used to <br />determine the location of annuli. Scales from the key <br />