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Abstract
Forty adult roundtail chub Gila robusta were captured by pulsed DC electroshock from the Colorado River near the Colorado–Utah state line and examined for spinal injury and tissue damage by X rays and necropsy. The fish were captured from an electrofishing boat, by means of a Coffelt V VP- 15 electrofisher with a square waveform pulsed DC output of 120 V and 8 A (20% duty cycle, 40 Hz). No external bruises or abnormal behavior were noted immediately after electroshocking. Open-fillet necropsy revealed local hemorrhaging along a portion of the spine in 5% (two) of the fish, and no dislocated or fractured vertebrae were observed in the X-ray photographs. Electrofishing with square-wave pulsed DC at 40 Hz was determined to be a safe method for capturing native roundtail chub from the Colorado River, when used under these conditions.