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Meristic characters considered important were counts of precaudal <br />vertebrae and gill rakers of the second arch (Smith et al. 1979, Figure <br />16) Sixteen of the 19 Green River Gila specimens had precaudal vertebrae <br />counts in the G. cypha, G. robusta range; three had precaudal vertebrae <br />counts in the G.' elegans range. Nine specimens had gill raker counts in <br />the G.' robusta range; eight were in the G. cypha range and two in the G. <br />elegans range (Figure 16). <br />Taxonomic analysis is continuing for Gila spp. More information <br />will be provided in subsequent reports and publications. <br />Razorback sucker' <br />Five razorback suckers were collected from the Yampa and Green <br />rivers during 1981 (Table 24). Only one razorback (Green River, RM <br />344.3, 5/17/81) was captured during standardized sampling. Four fish <br />including one recapture, were collected from a riffle in the Yampa River <br />at 0.3 mi (0.5 km) upstream from its confluence with the Green river <br />(Echo Park). Fish No. 1342 was a ripe female that was originally <br />tagged by Bio/West, Inc. in March, 1978. near Island Park, approximately <br />12 mi (20 km) downstream from the recapture point. The other three fish <br />were ripe tuberculated males. Two of the males were collected (and <br />several other individuals seen, but not captured) at the upper end of a <br />gravel/rubble bar in shallow (less than 1.0 ft; 0.3 m) relatively swift <br />(greater than 1.2 ft/s) water. The female and remaining male were <br />collected from a sand/silt shoreline near the lower end of the same bar <br />in slower current (less than 0.5 ft/s). McAda and Wydoski (1980) <br />found several razorback sucker in spawning condition on this same riffle <br />in 1975. <br />Collections of only five individuals in 1981 precludes-'any intensive <br />analysis of the abundance or distribution of razorback sucker in the' <br />Yampa and upper Green rivers. In CRFP studies on 300 mi of the Green <br />River below Split Mountain (Tyus et al. 1981), only 92 individuals were <br />collected in three years (1979-1981) of sampling. Only five of the 92 <br />were collected during the standardized sampling program. Only adults <br />were collected indicating low or nonexistent reproductive success in <br />recent years. Collections of adults in the lower Yampa in 1981 in <br />spawning condition strongly suggest spawning activity, however, succes's <br />of this attempt is suspect since no young were subsequently collected. <br />72