Synopsis
The Colorado squawfish, Ptychocheilus lucius, the principal native piscivore of the Colorado River basin, was once widespread and abundant in large rivers and their major tributaries. It occurs today only in the upstream regions of its historic range and is threatened with extinction. Growth rate of the species there is much slower than its potential rate and the rate that might once have been typical in lower-basin rivers. We develop the hypothesis that the interaction of slow growth and increased early-life mortality is an important cause of the decline of Colorado squawfish in the upper basin. We use a growth-rate versus temperature relation for Colorado squawfish to compare temperature regimes of historic and present habitats, and we describe the strong, positive relation between our measure of temperature-regime suitability and first-year growth of Colorado squawfish in upper-basin rivers. The unusually small size of the age-0 fish going into winter might be an important factor affecting recruitment to the adult stock. Simulations showed how the effect of increased early-life mortality can be especially significant on populations of slow-growing fishes. Predation by introduced fishes, as well as other man-induced causes of increased early-life mortality, probably contributed importantly to the decline of Colorado squawfish in the remaining habitat. Management efforts that might help this endangered species to recover include water management to enhance temperatures for growth, and the control of important introduced fishes.
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Kaeding, L.R., Osmundson, D.B. Interaction of slow growth and increased early-life mortality: an hypothesis on the decline of Colorado squawfish in the upstream regions of its historic range. Environ Biol Fish 22, 287–298 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00004894
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00004894