Premium
Relative Abundance and Lengths of Kendall Warm Springs Dace Captured from Different Habitats in a Specially Designed Trap
Author(s) -
Gryska Andrew D.,
Hubert Wayne A.,
Gerow Kenneth G.
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
transactions of the american fisheries society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.696
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 1548-8659
pISSN - 0002-8487
DOI - 10.1577/1548-8659(1998)127<0309:raalok>2.0.co;2
Subject(s) - habitat , environmental science , catch per unit effort , abundance (ecology) , endangered species , fishery , ecology , benthic zone , streams , hydrology (agriculture) , biology , geology , computer network , geotechnical engineering , computer science
A trap was designed to capture endangered Kendall Warm Springs dace Rhinichthys osculus thermalis (a subspecies of speckled dace Rhinichthys osculus ) without being destructive to the habitat of the fish in Kendall Warm Springs Creek, Wyoming. Four experiments were conducted to determine differences in catch per unit effort (CPUE) and length frequencies of fish among differing habitat types. The CPUE was highest in channel habitats with current, and one experiment indicated that it was particularly high at vertical interfaces with vegetation. Longer fish were captured in channel habitats away from vegetation than in vegetated areas. The CPUE was significantly greater during the day than at night during one experiment, but no significant differences were observed among the other three experiments. The traps were easy and inexpensive to construct, could be used in a variety of stream habitats, and may have applications in other small streams for sampling small, benthic fishes.