Reproductive Ecology and Growth of a Captive Population of Little Colorado Spinedace (Lepidomeda vittata: Cyprinidae)

Abstract

ing tributaries, and perhaps in the Zuni watershed south of Gallup, New Mexico. Extensive surveys throughout the known range of L. vittata during 1960 found only one specimen of this cyprinid in Clear Creek, Arizona (Miller, 1961); however, a large population was found in East Clear Creek, during 1961 (Miller, 1963). Surveys conducted by Minckley and Carufel (1967) in 1963 and 1966 found L. vittata throughout its known range in Arizona; however, populations declined again after this period (Minckley, 1973). Due to a sporadic distribution and a reduction in numbers, L. vittata was listed as threatened by USFWS in 1987 (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 1987. Recently, Blinn et al. (1993) and Rinne and Alexander (1995) demonstrated, by in situ cage experiments, that predation by Oncorhynchus mykiss (rainbow trout) may, in part, be responsible for the disjunct and sporadic geographic distribution of L. vittata.