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<br />Flow Chamber Trials <br />We set up the experiment so that we evenly paired treatments; for example, we would test a 22- <br />em control fish and then a 22-cm exercised fish. We compared the cumulative distribution function of <br />critical flow velocities (UcrJ between exercised and unexercised razorback suckers using a Kolmogorov- <br />Smimov two-sample test that provides information on maximum differences within the distributions, <br />and the MRPP two-group comparison that focuses on average deviations. These nonparametric methods <br />were used to test the hypothesis that exercised fish would handle critical flow velocities better than <br />unexercised fish. <br /> <br />Results <br /> <br />Exercise Treatment <br /> <br />Razorback Sucker <br />Exercised groups exhibited no sign of fatigue or stress. They roamed freely during exercise <br />periods, easily navigating the velocity. They generally formed a large school that preferred the most <br />upstream site near the motor and the downstream bend. Suckers in all four tanks typically schooled <br />along the bottom of the tank during daylight hours, but they would disperse throughout the water <br />column when the current was turned off at night. <br /> <br />Bonytail <br />The two die-offs of bony tail were disappointments but not a surprise. We had been warned by <br />hatchery personal that these fish are extremely susceptible to stress-related disease. However, we do not <br />believe the exercise regimen in itself caused the mortality, but undoubtedly contributed to it. Three <br />healthy bony tail were discovered among the exercised razorback suckers that had endured 20 weeks of <br />flow; in addition, flow chamber results suggest bony tail are strong swimmers. Hatchery personnel <br />reported the exercised bony tail quit feeding once the exercise regimen started. It has been reported <br />(Mueller, 2006) that bony tail are nocturnal, and possibly the fish needed to be exercised at night rather <br />than during the day. That combines with other existing stressors (for example, crowding and spawning <br />season) that might have triggered chronic fatigue, leaving exercised fish more susceptible to the <br />outbreak of ich. A similar outbreak of ich occurred at the end of our 2007 field season, which claimed <br />all the remaining (> 150) control bony tail. <br /> <br />Predator Exposure <br /> <br />Razorback Suckers-2006 Efforts <br /> <br />Impromptu Tank Experiments <br />In trial 1, the two flathead catfish and 10 razorback suckers co-existed in the tank experiment for <br />seven days without predation occurring. Based on daytime observations, razorback sucker used both <br />sides of the tank; 46 percent of the prey counted were found with the flathead catfish (n = 20). There <br />was no evidence of predator avoidance by razorback suckers (fig.6; Appendix B). <br /> <br />9 <br />