BobertH. Gray, RH G ray & Assoclates,2867 Troon Ct.. Rich and Washington99352 E mail rhgray@ixnetcom com ano DennisO. Dauble, Pacific Northu/esi Nationa Laboratory P O Box999 Richand. Wash nqton 99352 SomeLife HistoryCharacteristics of Cyprinidsin the HanfordReach, Mid-ColumbiaRiver Abstract Cvprinids arc thc non abundanl nonsalmonidfamily of fishes in the Hanford Reach of the Columbia Ri\,er and collectivelv conrprise> 50tZ ofthe fish communil!. The nonhern pikeminnow (P4chot:heilusoregon,n \irl. ruil!iLle\hiner LRt(rrrrdrorl"r ,ar.drrrr). peamouth(MJ kx:heilustaurinusl.and chisclmouth(Acr.r.l.,i/rr a/aracrrrs)are common. aDdcommon carp (Ctpr.t r.! cd,?i.r. scveral speciesof dacc (Rlilii.lth\: tdtarudae, R. fulcdtur, R. r,.u/rr). rench (nr.a rin..r). and goldfish (Cd,"drrrllr drld!.is) also occur.Cyprinid spawningis concentratedin lale spring and early summerat water tempcraturesranging fron 10 to l6'C. Of thc mosl abuDdantcyprinids. northernpikeminnow, atuiD the largestsizc at maruriry and rcdside shiner rhe smallest. Although allspecics areomDivorousfor at lcasl paft oftheir lifecycle. northernpikeminnow is piscivorousat sizes> 250 mm fbrk leDgth\!hile chisclmc'ulhiDgest mainly pcdph]ton. Introduction repeatedbecause of reductionsi[ water use de- velopmentandrecent restrictions on samplinggear The Hanfbrd Reach remains unique as the last imposedby environmentalregulations such as the unimpounded,though regulated, sfetch ofthe Co- EndangeredSpecies Act. lumbia River in the United Statesupsteam of BonnevilleDam. The area supports impodant sport This paper describesthe biology of the Cy fisheries for steelhead(a),?.orft) nchus m)-kiss), prinidac. the most abundantand diverse tamily smallmouth bass (Micropterus tblomieu), and, offishes in the Hanford Reach(Gray and Dauble white sturgeon(A c ip e n s e r tansmont dnus), a\d. 1977a).The datawere largely derivedfrom stud containsthe last naturalmain-stem spawning area resthat asscssedpotential impacts ofpower plant fbr fall chinook salmon (O. tshab\tscha, Cray operationson the NLquaticenvironment (Gray and and Dauble 1977a,Dauble and Watson l997). Dauble1976b. 1971b, c,1978,1979b, c, Pageet While therehave been numerous studies ofanadro- al. 197,1,1982). Native cyprinid speciesdiscussed nous fishesin the Hanford Reach(Becker 1973, in detail are the lorthern pikeminnow (P cio- 1990,Dauble et al. 1978.1980, l989. Daubleand chei I us oregone ns is),redside shiner (Rlc/rzrrdsoairu Watson 1997). Iife history information for resi- balteatus), peamotth (My kr heilus caurinus), and, dent nonsalmonidsis limited to smallmouthbass chiselmouth (Acroci eilus ttlumce us).Linited data (Hendersonand Foster 1956,Montgomery et al. arealso presented on dace(RhlnlcAlhys spp.) and 1980), the sandroller (Pertn2sis transnro tana. the non-nativecommon carp (Ctprinus ccLrpio). Gray and Dauble 1976a, 1979a),rwo speciesof Life history aspectspresented include relative sucket(Cotostomus (:olumbiunus, C. nwc rocheilus, abundance,distribution. age and growth. spa$,n- Dauble1980. 1986), and white sturgeon (Haynes ing characteristics,juvenile emergenceand tim- et al. 1978,Haynes and Gray 1981,Crass and ing, habitat use.and diet. Gray 1982).Howevel power-plantsiting and other studiesconducted oyer the past severaldecades StudyAreas/Materials and Methods in the mid-ColumbiaRiver (rcviewedin Becker 1990) provide important intbrmation on other The ColumbiaRiver adjoinsthe U.S. Department abundantresident fishes. These forage tish are of Energy Hanford Site beginning about l0 km important in the proper tunctioning of thc Co- (6 rniles)north ofRichland. Washington.between lumbia River's food web, both as sourcesoffood river kilometers (km) 550 and 629 (river miles and aspredators. It is doubtful that thesetypes of 3,12and 395) (Figure l). The inclusivearea of comprehensivemonitoring studieswill ever be river is called the Hanford Reach.The Hantbrd 122 NorthwestScience, Vol. 75, No. 2.2001 O 2001 bJ_rheNonhq.n Slsntifir A\sociation All rilhrsrescrred i I Riverkm 576-579 MidriverSite Riverkm 557€06 DownriverSil€ Richland Figure L Columbia River, U- S. Depannenl of Energ,vHanford Reser!ation.and fish sampling locations. reachhas no tributarystreams, althoughthe Snake sampledat various intervalsfrom 1973 through andYakima Rivers enterat river km 530 and 539, 1982. The upriver site was sampled at weekly respectively.Over the lastseveral decades, power- intewals from April 1973to June 1974 and dur- plantsiting studies, evaluations ofreactor discharge ing May throughJune 1975.The down river srte impacts,and other environmental assessments have wassampled at intervalsof aboutthree weeks lrom beenconducted. These efforts have requiredex September1974 through August 1978. The mid- tensivefish samplingprimarily at threeareas (Fig- river sitewas sampledmonthly from March 1981 ure 1). The areas,located at river km 605-613 throughApril 1982. (upriver site), river km 576-579 (mid-river site), Thereare several differences in physicalhabitat and river km 557 to 566 (downriver site), were among the three sites.The upriver site consists Hanford ReachCyprinids 123 of a straight and deep channel with no islands, composedof two 61 cm (24in) diametertunnels, hastr maximum depthof l0 m, andfew shoreline eachabout 3 m (10 tt) long and setin pairs so the inundationsare presenl The bottom consists l gely mouth of one tunnel facedthe mouth of the sec- of bouldersand cobble >10 cm in diarneter The ond. Each tunnel was supportedby 6 hoopswith rnid-river site includes a main channel and two throatsattached on the first and third hoop. The large backwatcr areas.The botton is lairly uni tunnelswere connectedwith a lead,6l cm (2,1 form consistingof cobblc, a t'cw boulders.some in) high and 6 m (20 ft) long. Mesh size of the gravel,and cemented material. The channelat thc throats,netting surroundingthe hoops and con- downstrcamsite is shallower wider and contains nectinglead. was 1.25cm (0.5in) squaremesh. islands; adjoining it are sloughs and backwater Backpackond boat electoshocker:Backpack areas.The bottom variestiom sandto cobbleand electroshockingwas conducted using a Snith-Root bouldersand is often cementedas outcroppings Type VII Electrofisher At each station,a single ofupper Ringold-typematerial (Gray andDauble 50-metertransect was sampledat depthsless than lq77br. Addil iona ll). thc'downrirer.iteis unin- a meter Also, a Smith-RootType VI Electrofisher terfacearea under the influenceof both the back- powered by a 240-volt gcncrator was mounted water cffcct of the upper end of McNary Dam on a boat and usedto samplenear shore lbr adult and the free-flowing Columbia River Thus, the fish.Asingle 500m transectwas sanrpled at depths downrivel sitehas grcaterhabitat complexity than upto3m. the othersites. Hook and llre: Trotlines were set along the Severaltypes of sampling gear and methods shorelineand in mid-channel.Trotlines consisted were usedto suit variousareas and habitattypes, of a 9 m (30 ft) long, 0.6 cm (l/4 in) diameter' and to compensatefor gear selectivity. Those Iead mainline and 10 altemating No. 2 and 2/0 pedinent to this discussioninclude: hooks.Hooks baitedwith worms or small pieces Gill nets: GlIl nets were set from shore into offlsh were attachedto the mainline at 1 m (3 ft) the river or were setoffshore perpendicular to the intcrvalsby a0.3m (l fi) long,60Jbtest monofila- cuffent in deeperwatcr. Nets were about 2 m (6- ment leaderand swivel. Trotlines were set in the 8 ti) deep and composedof panels of different aftemoon and retrieved thc next morning about merh.it e rungingin 1.25cm (0.5in) increment' l9 h later.Hook and line samplingwith artillcial from 1.25-10cm (0.5-4 in) squaremesh. Nets lurcs was underlakenwhen time perrnitted. variedin lengthfrom 7.5 37.5m (25-125ft). Net Also, some fish specieswere collected from length was dependent on location and the trayeling screensof a water intake structure hydrogeologicalconditions ofthe river at the lime at ColumbiaRiver km 608 (Gmy et al. 1975,Page of the set.Gill nets wcrc sct in the atternoonand et al. 1975,Gray andDauble 1977a), and cylin- retrievedthe next moming about 19 h later. ddcal minnow traps\r,ere set on the river bottom Trummel nets: Trammel nets werc set from in theintale forehry. A fterr olleLtiun. rpecies \\ erc shoreinto the river. Nets were about 2 n (6-8 ft) identified using standardtaxonomic keys (i.e.. deepand composedof 6-m (20-ft) panelsof dif'- Schultz1936. Carl et al. 1967.Eddy 1969,Bond ferentmesh size ranging in 1.25cm (0.5in) in 1973). crementsfrom 2.5-10cm (1-4-in)square mesh. Collectedfish werecounted and catch per unit Trammel nets u'ere 30m (100 ft) Iong, r'ere set cftbrr (CPUE) was determined.Fish CPUE with in thealtemoon and retricred thc rrertmorning gill net,trammel net, hoop net, and beach scine about 19 h later. was calculatedas fbllows: gill and trammel nct Beachseines: Beach seining was doneat sev- CPUE wasthe averagenumber offish caughtper cral locations on both sidesof the river at each ovemightset (about l9 h) of 30 m (100ft) ofnet: studysite. Seining encompassed about 30 m (100 hoop net CPUE was the avcragenumber of fish jrl ft) of rh,'reline er\'hlu\rlion. The .eincuas caughtper 24 h set; beachseine CPUE was the 1.2 m (4 ft) deep,9 m (30 ft) long and consisted averagenumber of fish caught per seine haul: (1/8 of 0.32cm in) mesh. trotline CPUE was the averagenumber of fish Hoop nets: Hoop netswere usually set paral- caughtper ovemight set(about l9 h) of l0 baited Iel to the cunent.checked every l6-18 hrs,and hooks;hookand line