Use of Multiple Spawning Sites and Seasonal Movement by Razorback Suckers in the Middle Green River, Utah

Abstract

Radiotelemetry data through three successive spawning events (1993)(1994)(1995) and capture data for 15 years (1975,(1979)(1980)(1981)(1982)(1983)(1984)(1985)(1986)(1987)(1988)(1989)(1990)(1991)(1992)(1993) were used to describe movement patterns and fidelity to spawning sites by male razorback suckers Xyrauchen texanus in the middle Green River, Utah. Movement to spawning areas was influenced primarily by discharge. The greatest distances traveled by male razorback suckers were in a downstream direction and occurred just before and shortly after spawning. Three of six surviving males implanted with radio transmitters were located on more than one spawning site between 1993 and 1995. Thus, although most razorback suckers in the middle Green River spawned in a single area between river kilometers 492 and 501 (from the confluence of the Green and the Colorado rivers), other spawning areas were probably used. Tag recapture and telemetry data supported the hypothesis that razorback suckers in the middle Green River represent a single reproductive population.

THEME SECTION Spatial ecology of an endangered native Australian Percichthyid fish, the trout cod Maccullochella macquariensis John D. Koehn1,*, Simon J. Nicol1,2, John A. McKenzie1, Jason A. Lieschke1, Jarod P. Lyon1, Karl Pomorin1

“…This is comparable to the average of 78 m reported for trout cod by Ebner & Thiem (2006) and 70 to 820 m reported for Mary River cod (Simpson & Mapleston 2002). Evidence for homing is provided for a range of species, including the Colorado squawfish Ptychocheilus lucius (Tyus 1985), male razorback suckers Xyrauchen texanus (Modde & Irving 1998) Determining trends in movement patterns is often difficult when studying endangered species such as trout cod, for which the number of study fish is usually limited. There was considerable variation in the movements of individual trout cod; however, no seasonal association with movement was detected.…”

Distribution and Movement of Humpback Chub in the Colorado River, Grand Canyon, Based on Recaptures

“…Our study even found that fish at liberty over 10 (main-stem Colorado River) to 12 (LCR) years were recaptured near their same capture location. Other southwestern desert fishes (e.g., Colorado pikeminnow) have shown substantial migrations and a fidelity to spawning locations across long (up to 10-year) temporal scales (Tyus 1991), but others (e.g., razorback suckers) may move among several spawning locations over 3 years (Modde and Irving 1998), suggesting that some fish may not imprint to specific spawning locations.…”

“…Large-river fishes typically migrate long distances, presumably to meet the life history requirements of adults such as spawning (e.g., Pellett et al 1998;Paukert and Fisher 2001), and this also occurs in adult desert river fishes (Tyus 1991;Modde and Irving 1998). However, the scale at which distribution and movement is evaluated also affects how conservation and management measures are implemented (Fausch and Young 1995;Hay et al 2001).…”

“…Previous studies of endangered or threatened desert fishes in the southwestern United States have shown mixed results. Humpback chub show high fidelity (using short-term telemetry transmitters) in main-stem riverine populations (Keading et al 1990;Valdez and Hoffnagle 1999), whereas bonytail Gila elegans have less fidelity during spawning (Keading et al 1990 [Note] pikeminnow Ptychocheilus lucius make substantial migrations during spawning (Tyus 1991;Irving and Modde 2000), whereas razorback sucker Xyrauchen texanus also migrate substantial distances but may use different spawning locations in different years (Modde and Irving 1998), emphasizing the need to evaluate distribution and movement over multiple years. Understanding the distribution and movement of humpback chub in Grand Canyon is needed before conservation and management strategies to recover this species can be fully evaluated.…”

Selenium Poisoning of Wildlife and Western Agriculture: Cause and Effect

“…Modde and Irving (1998) observed that razorback suckers move early in the hydrograph. Apparently, razorbacks spawn over several weeks because larvae have been collected for an extended period of time for several years (1992)(1993)(1994)(1995)(1996) in the Green River (Muth et al 1998).…”