Acoustic telemetry to assess post-stocking dispersal and mortality of razorback sucker Xyrauchen texanus

Acoustic telemetry and scuba revealed immediate and high post-stocking mortality of razorback sucker Xyrauchen texanus in Lake Mohave, U.S.A., a Colorado River impoundment. At the conclusion of this 6 month study, only three of 19 (16%) study fish remained active. Concurrently, 20 X. texanus implanted with acoustic transmitters and held in a hatchery raceway remained healthy throughout the experiment and no transmitters were shed. Post-stocking mortality was probably due to predation by striped bass Morone saxatilis, a piscivorous non-native fish. (C) 2008 The Authors Journal compilation (C) 2008 The Fisheries Society of the British Isles.