Laserfiche WebLink
Colorado squawfish adults were captured in all 4 strata, but were <br />rare. Only one razorback sucker was collected, (Stratum 4, May 1981). <br />Humpback chub was only found in Stratum 3, Whirlpool Canyon (August). <br />Qnly 2 humpback chub were collected, but two other individuals in the <br />sa,Te collection appeared to have humpback charactertistics. <br />Exotic species in the Green River were numerically dominated by the <br />red shiner which comprised 25% or more of total fishes in each of the <br />four strata. Other relatively common cyprinids included fathead minnow, <br />sand shiner, redside shiner, and carp. Incidental species included one <br />smallmouth bass from Stratum 3 and one white sucker from Stratum 4. Two <br />introduced salmonids, brown trout and rainbow trout, were found occasionally <br />in Strata 3 and 4, <br />Catch/effort data indicated that electrofishing was most effective <br />in capturing juvenile and adult flannelmouth and bluehead suckers, carp <br />and channel catfish (Tables 7 and 8). Electrofishing was also more <br />effective in collecteg juvenile channel catfish than adults. Seines <br />were more effective for all size classes of the smaller cyprinids,'and' <br />the YOY of larger species. Catch rates in trammel nets (fish/h) were <br />generally quite low (less than 0.1 fish/h). Trammel nets were most <br />effective for adult bluehead and flannelmouth suckers, adult roundtail <br />chub and adult channel catfish (Tables 11 and 12). <br />Of the 19 species collected in the Green River during standardized <br />sampling, 17 species were found in Strata 3 and 4 and only 13 in Strata <br />1 and 2 (Table 6). This difference may be due to the presence of more <br />pools, eddies and backwaters in the upper 2 strata, however, all four, <br />species not found in the two lower strata occurred in very low numbers <br />(i.e. one smallmouth bass in Stratum 3; one razorback sucker in Stratum <br />4; a few brown and rainbow trout in both strata). The two salmonids <br />were probably recruitment from Jones Hole Creek and/or Flaming Gorge <br />reservoir, (since they are introduced there) rather than any direct <br />reflection to habitat. <br />Habitat Preferences - All Species <br />Habitat preferences may be inferred from conditions measured at <br />points of fish captures but caution should be used when interpreting <br />relative number of fishes collected in different habitats (Figure 8). <br />Since these data include all gear types in all strata, habitat types are <br />not uniformly represented in all strata. With the concurrence of NPS a <br />more complete analysis of these data will be made later in 1982 using a <br />number of variables including habitat type, water depth, water velocity <br />and substrate type. <br />Shoreline habitats generally contained more fishes than other habi- <br />tats, which is logical since a diversity of microhabitats were present. <br />Adults of all species combined exceeded young and juveniles in shorelines <br />(all three rivers; Figure 8). Eighteen of 19 species collected in the <br />Green River, 18 of 23 species collected in the Yampa River, and all 11 <br />species from the Little Snake River were captured from shorelines <br />(Figure 9). <br />43