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following day, 25 May, five ripe males were collected and transported to the <br />hatchery to fertilize with the captured female. Stripping of the female <br />yielded about a dozen, poor colored eggs which were discarded. All of these <br />fish were released alive at RMI 254.6 on 25 May. <br />On 31 May, one ripe female and ripe four male razorback suckers were <br />stripped in the field. The female yielded about 7,000 eggs (5,224 eggs per <br />Kg body weight) and was 544 mm TL. The four males ranged in size from 450-511 <br />mm TL. These eggs were incubated indoors in a Heath incubator at water <br />temperatures of 20-210C, 31 May to 6 June (Table 4.). Fungus did develop on <br />some of the eggs, and these eggs were removed by hand as encountered. Eggs <br />commenced hatching at 112 hours after fertilization, and were finished <br />hatching by 145 hours. Hamman (1985) calculated the expected number of <br />razorback sucker fry to hatch, for a Heath incubator at water temperatures of <br />20-220C, as 61% of female fecundity. Based on this, theoretically 4,270 fry <br />should have hatched. The actual number of fry hatched at the Ouray facility <br />was 2100, or 30% of female fecundity. The hatching fry ranged in size 5-7 mm <br />TL. As the fry hatched, 5-6 June, they were captured by aquarium nets and <br />placed into a separate holding tank. Water flow in the holding tank was two <br />gpm, and temperature was 21-220C. The fry were held in the holding tank 5-10 <br />June, at which time 1500 fry were placed into pond #3, and 600 fry were held <br />back for feed trials. <br />POND REARING <br />Pond #3 began filling 25 April, and was full by 9 May. Fertilizers were <br />added to the pond to encourage plankton blooms as a source of food for the <br />fry. Alfalfa is an organic fertilizer and is used to "accelerate the <br />production of zooplankton in rearing ponds, particularly in new or sterile <br />ponds (Piper, et al., 1986)". Phosphorus, an inorganic fertilizer, is known