1252
<br />MARSH ET AL.
<br />volunteers. Sampling sites were identified through
<br />observation of adult razorback suckers consis-
<br />tently visiting specific areas of shoreline to stage
<br />and spawn in springtime. Primary sampling sites
<br />and their approximate river kilometer (RK) up-
<br />stream of Davis Dam on the Arizona side of Lake
<br />Mohave included Owl Cove (RK 45), Yuma and
<br />Gold coves (RK 39), Arizona Bay (RK 38), Carp
<br />Cove (RK 32), and Cottonwood Cove East (RK
<br />32), while sites on the Nevada side included the
<br />area between Cottonwood Cove West and Tequila
<br />Cove (RK 35), Hog Farm Cove (RK 31), Six Mile
<br />Cove (RK 30), the area between Nine Mile and
<br />Half-way coves (RK 27), and Nine Mile Cove (RK
<br />26).
<br />Annual spring (March) sampling occurred in the
<br />above-mentioned coves and inlets along shallow
<br />shorelines, reefs, and spits, with variously sized
<br />trammel nets (20-100 m long X 3 m deep, 2.5-
<br />3.8-cm inner mesh, and 25.4-30.5-cm outer mesh)
<br />and boat-mounted electrofishers. Gill nets and
<br />hoop nets were used infrequently. Overnight net
<br />sets were in water 2-6 m deep, with nets cleared
<br />of fishes at 4-6-h intervals. Electrofishing was typ-
<br />ically performed at night over similar depths. Ra-
<br />zorback suckers were placed into on-board live
<br />tanks or into floating live enclosures until assess-
<br />ment. With minimal handling, fish were measured
<br />to the nearest millimeter (total length [TL]) and
<br />examined for sex, parasites, disease, deformity, in-
<br />jury, and general health. Sex categories were de-
<br />fined as juvenile (a young fish that has not attained
<br />sexual maturity and does not exhibit external sec-
<br />ondary characters that allow reliable sex deter-
<br />mination), male, female, and unknown (an adult
<br />fish whose sex could not be reliably determined).
<br />All razorback suckers were electronically scanned
<br />for passive integrated transponder (PIT) tags
<br />(Biomark, Inc., Meridian, Idaho). Most fish cap-
<br />tured unmarked were injected with a PIT tag, but
<br />occasionally fish were released unmarked, al-
<br />though their TL, sex, and physical data were re-
<br />corded. Approximately 100 fish were removed
<br />from the population during the last decade for their
<br />reproductive services at national fish hatcheries or
<br />for their participation in telemetry and other stud-
<br />ies (e.g., Minckley et al. 1991; Mueller et al. 2000;
<br />Marsh, unpublished report).
<br />Annual single-census population estimates were
<br />determined for razorback suckers by using an ad-
<br />justed Peterson-method formula (i.e., N*, the single-
<br />census Chapman modification; Ricker 1975):
<br />N* _ ([M + 11 X [C + 11)1(R + 1),
<br />where N* is the annual single-census population
<br />estimate for the marking or previous year, M is the
<br />number of fish marked during the marking year, C
<br />is the combined number of marked and unmarked
<br />fish captured in the sampling or current year, and
<br />R is the number of marked fish captured in the
<br />sampling year that were originally marked in the
<br />marking year. C and R do not include multiple
<br />captures of the same marked fish during the same
<br />sampling year. Mortality was assumed to be greater
<br />than zero and recruitment was assumed to be zero,
<br />so N* was calculated for the marking year rather
<br />than the sampling year (Seber 1973). Confidence
<br />limits (CLs) of N* were based on a Poisson fre-
<br />quency distribution with R as the entering variable
<br />x in the distribution table; if R was greater than
<br />50, Pearson's formula was used (Ricker 1975):
<br />x + 1.92 ± 1.960. (x + 1.0)0.5
<br />Linear regression was used to determine wheth-
<br />er M and R were significantly related to time. All
<br />statistical analyses were based on a significance
<br />level of 0.05.
<br />Our study followed three basic assumptions,
<br />generalized by Pollock et al. (1990) for the ad-
<br />justed Peterson estimate: (1) the population is
<br />closed, with no additions or deletions; (2) all an-
<br />imals have a similar likelihood of capture in each
<br />sampling year; and (3) marks are not lost or over-
<br />looked. The first assumption is less stringent if
<br />mortality is random and does not differ between
<br />marked and unmarked fish. Fish in our study were
<br />subjected to two processes, capture and handling.
<br />Razorback suckers that were found dead in nets or
<br />that were observed dead after handling were a rar-
<br />ity; however, results indicate occasional substan-
<br />tial annual losses, and a zero-mortality assumption
<br />for the adjusted Peterson method was clearly vi-
<br />olated. The second assumption requires that the
<br />capture probability for individuals is homogenous
<br />throughout the population and that fish do not ex-
<br />hibit a "trap response." Homogeneity was as-
<br />sumed for our study population for several reasons,
<br />the first of which was based on the similar age and
<br />size of individuals in the population (McCarthy
<br />and Minckley 1987). Also, sampling was focused
<br />on spawning sites, and all adults were assumed to
<br />participate in spawning behavior. Further, razor-
<br />back suckers have been shown in the past to dis-
<br />perse great distances after release (Mueller et al.
<br />2000) as well as to randomly mix into the popu-
<br />lation. Finally, the possibility of a trap response
<br />is rejected because trammel nets are not baited;
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