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<br /> <br />Bonytail can grow to 24 inches or <br />more. have been known to live <br />nearly 50 years. No reproducing <br />populations are known in the wild. <br /> <br />Bony tail: The bony tail is the rarest of the four endangered Colorado River fish species. Until <br />recent stockings, most biologists considered bony tail nearly extinct upstream of Lake Powell. <br />Captive populations of bony tail now are being maintained at the Wahweap Hatchery in Utah <br />and at Dexter National Fish Hatchery in New Mexico. Since 1996, about 10,000 bony tails <br />have been stocked in the Colorado River. Another 3,000 of these extremely rare fish have <br />been released in the Green, and a total of 40,000 more will be stocked in the Green and <br />Colorado rivers in 1999. To increase their survival in the wild, most bony tails are grown to 8 <br />to 12 inches before being stocked. The management objective for the bony tail is about 4.100 <br />fish in the Green River. <br /> <br /> <br />Razorback suckers have be e n <br />known to live 40 years or more. <br />According to university researchers, <br />this species evolved more than 4 <br />million years ago. One of the largest <br />suckers in North America, the <br />razorback sucker can grow to up to <br />18 pounds and lengths exceeding <br />3 feel. <br /> <br />Razorback sucker: Biologists believe this fish species continues to decline in the wild. <br />. Most razorbacks captured in recent years in the Green, Colorado and Yampa rivers are thought <br />to be more than 20 years old, with very few young surviving to adulthood. Because of its <br />scarcity in the wild, the razorback sucker has been given highest priority for hatchery raising- <br />and stocking. State-of-the-art hatchery facilities have been built in both Colorado and Utah. As <br />a result, the Recovery Program has stocked more than 7,500 razorbacks in the upper basin <br />and plans to stock 10,000 more in 1999. Also, biologists recently discovered a spawning <br />population of razorback suckers in the lower Green RiveI'. Management objectives for <br />razorback suckers in the upper basin call for 5,300 fish in two stt'etches of the Green River <br />. and one in the Colorado River. <br /> <br />5 <br />