Armstrong, Michael L.

Baker, Steve C.

English

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Journal of the Arkansas Academy of ScienceVolume 41 Article 251987Recent Collections of Fishes from the Spring RiverDrainage in Northeast ArkansasSteve C. BakerArkansas Game and Fish CommissionMichael L. ArmstrongArkansas Game and Fish CommissionFollow this and additional works at: http://scholarworks.uark.edu/jaasPart of the Aquaculture and Fisheries CommonsThis article is available for use under the Creative Commons license: Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-ND 4.0). Users are able toread, download, copy, print, distribute, search, link to the full texts of these articles, or use them for any other lawful purpose, without asking priorpermission from the publisher or the author.This General Note is brought to you for free and open access by ScholarWorks@UARK. It has been accepted for inclusion in Journal of the ArkansasAcademy of Science by an authorized editor of ScholarWorks@UARK. For more information, please contact scholar@uark.edu, ccmiddle@uark.edu.Recommended CitationBaker, Steve C. and Armstrong, Michael L. (1987) "Recent Collections of Fishes from the Spring River Drainage in NortheastArkansas," Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science: Vol. 41 , Article 25.Available at: http://scholarworks.uark.edu/jaas/vol41/iss1/2596Proceedings Arkansas Academy of Science, Vol. 41, 1987GENERAL NOTESRECENT COLLECTIONS OF FISHES FROM THE SPRING RIVER DRAINAGE INNORTHEAST ARKANSASSeveral ichthyofaunal surveys have been conducted in the Spring River of Arkansas. Meek (1894) initiallycollected fish insome tributariesof the Upper Spring River. Buchanan (1973) sampled throughout the drainage in developing his Key to the Fishes of Arkansas. Several studieshave been conducted in sub-basin tributary streams ofthe Spring River (Fowler and Harp, 1974; Bounds et ai, 1977; Johnson and Beadles, 1977;and Carter and Beadles, 1980). Winters (1985) conducted a survey of the Spring River ichthyofaunal for his master's thesis. Sampling throughoutthe Spring River basin has also been sporadically conducted by Arkansas Game and Fish Commission personnel.Anichthyofaunal survey was conducted at eight locations within the main channel of the Spring River and South Fork of the Spring Riverinnortheast Arkansas by the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission from September 1985 to September 1986. A total of 68 different fish specieswas collected. Sampling was performed by electrofishing, beach seining, and hoop netting.Two species of fish were collected for the first time from the Spring River. Moxostoma macrolepidotum, the shorthead redhorse, was moderatelycommon in samples collected from the Hardy area (NE !4, Sll, T19N, R5W) south to Williford (SE !4, S36, T19N, R4W). M.macrolepidotumwas collected by electrofishing in deeper pools below riffleareas, and was often found in conjunction with M. erythrurum. Although widely distributedthroughout central and eastern United States (Jenkins, 1980), M.macrolepidotum has not previously been documented from the Spring River drainage.Carassius auratus, the goldfish, was also collected from the Spring River at Hardy (NE !4, Sll, T19N, R4W). One specimen was collectedby electrofishing in a deep pool and was likely a bait bucket release. This capture was the first collection of C. auratus from the Spring River.Two fish species represent modern day catch records. Cycleptus elongatus, the blue sucker, was represented by one specimen collected atHardy (NE !4,Sll, T19N, RW4). The most recent collection of C. elongatus from the Spring River was by Meek (1894). Robison (1974) notedthat it was a rare inhabitant of the state. Pflieger (1975) discussed the typical habitat of the blue sucker as being large rivers. The site of collectionin the Spring River drainage was at Hardy Beach, a stretch of the Spring River immediately south of water normally utilized by trout and characterizedby clear water and moderately swift current. Thus, this occurrence also marked a collection of C. elongatus inan atypical habitat.The American eel, Anguilla rostrata, was also collected in vegetated pools in the Hardy area. Winters (1985) noted that A. rostrata was observedin a fisherman's creel near Spring River Oakes Camp in Fulton County. Two specimens were collected by electrofishing in this survey.Two species of fish were collected at locations which extended their distributions within the drainage. The gizzard shad, Dorosoma cepe-dianum, was documented by Winters (1985) as an inhabitant of the South Fork and lower reaches of the Spring River. Inthis survey D. cepedianumwas frequently collected by electrofishing in pools at Hardy and Williford.The sauger (Stizostedion canadense) was noted by Winters (1985) as part of a fisherman's creel near Ravenden. Buchanan (1973) recordsS. canadense only from the lower reaches of the Spring River. The sauger was collected in this survey from both Hardy and Williford and wasan inhabitant of deep pools below riffle areas.This survey, coupled with several others throughout the Spring River drainage, reemphasizes that the Spring River is a valuable river systemwith a highly diverse ichthyofaunal which demands careful monitoring and conservation. Future studies may document still more previously un-discovered species of fish from the system.We gratefully thank J. K. Beadles, Thomas Buchanan, and George Harp with their assistance in identifying some of the specimens.LITERATURE CITEDBOUNDS, S. M., J. K. BEADLES, and B.M. JOHNSON. The fishesof Randolph County, Arkansas. Proc. Ark.Acad. Sci. 31:21-25.BUCHANAN, T. M. 1973. The fishes of Arkansas. Little Rock,Arkansas, Ark. Game and Fish Comm. 68 pp.CARTER, F. A., and J. K. BEADLES. 1980. The fishes of RockCreek, Sharp County, Ark. Proc. Ark. Acad. Sci. 34:38-40.FOWLER, C. L.,and G. L.HARP. 1974. Ichthyofaunal diversifica-tion in Jane's Creek watershed, Randolph County, Ark.Proc. Ark.Acad. Sci. 28:13-18.JENKINS, R. E. 1980. Moxostoma macrolepidotum (Lesueur). Short-head redhorse. Pp. 427-428, in D. S. Lee, C. R. Gilbert, C. H.Hocutt, R. E. Jenkins, B. E. McAllister, J. R. Stauffer, Jr. Atlasof North American Freshwater Fishes. North Carolina St. Mus.Nat. History, Raleigh, NC. 854 pp.JOHNSON, B. M., and J. K. BEADLES. 1977. Fishes of the ElevenPoint River within Arkansas. Proc. Ark. Acad. Sci. 31:56-61.MEEK, S. E. 1894. Report of investigations respecting fishes of Ar-kansas collected during 1891, 1892, and 1893, with a synopsis ofprevious investigations in the same state. Bull.U.S. Fish Commis-sion. 14:67-94.PFLIEGER, W. L. 1975. Fishes of Missouri. Missouri Dept. ofCon-servation. St. Joseph, MO. 343 pp.ROBISON, H. W. 1974. Threatened fishes of Arkansas. Proc. Ark.Acad. Sci. 28:59-64.WINTERS, S. A. 1985. Taxa and occurrences of fishes withinthe Springriver sub-basin (Black River drainage) ofSouth Central Missouriand Northeast Arkansas. M.S. thesis, Northeast Louisiana Univer-sity, Monroe, Louisiana.STEVEC. BAKER'andMICHAELL.ARMSTRONG, Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, No. 2 Natural Resources Drive, LittleRock, AR 72205,'Present address: Southern Illinois Fish Laboratory, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, Illinois 62901-6511.96Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science, Vol. 41 [1987], Art. 25Published by Arkansas Academy of Science, 1987

Recent Collections of Fishes from the Spring River Drainage in Northeast Arkansas

UARK (University of Arkansas )

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science Volume 41 Article 25 1987 Recent Collections of Fishes from the Spring River Drainage in Northeast Arkansas Steve C. Baker Arkansas Game and Fish Commission Michael L. Armstrong Arkansas Game and Fish Commission Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.uark.edu/jaas  Part of the Aquaculture and Fisheries Commons Recommended Citation Baker, Steve C. and Armstrong, Michael L. (1987) "Recent Collections of Fishes from the Spring River Drainage in Northeast Arkansas," Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science: Vol. 41 , Article 25. Available at: https://scholarworks.uark.edu/jaas/vol41/iss1/25 This article is available for use under the Creative Commons license: Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-ND 4.0). Users are able to read, download, copy, print, distribute, search, link to the full texts of these articles, or use them for any other lawful purpose, without asking prior permission from the publisher or the author. This General Note is brought to you for free and open access by ScholarWorks@UARK. It has been accepted for inclusion in Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science by an authorized editor of ScholarWorks@UARK. For more information, please contact scholar@uark.edu. 96Proceedings Arkansas Academy of Science, Vol. 41, 1987GENERAL NOTESRECENT COLLECTIONS OF FISHES FROM THE SPRING RIVER DRAINAGE INNORTHEAST ARKANSASSeveral ichthyofaunal surveys have been conducted in the Spring River of Arkansas. Meek (1894) initiallycollected fish insome tributariesof the Upper Spring River. Buchanan (1973) sampled throughout the drainage in developing his Key to the Fishes of Arkansas. Several studieshave been conducted in sub-basin tributary streams ofthe Spring River (Fowler and Harp, 1974; Bounds et ai, 1977; Johnson and Beadles, 1977;and Carter and Beadles, 1980). Winters (1985) conducted a survey of the Spring River ichthyofaunal for his master's thesis. Sampling throughoutthe Spring River basin has also been sporadically conducted by Arkansas Game and Fish Commission personnel.Anichthyofaunal survey was conducted at eight locations within the main channel of the Spring River and South Fork of the Spring Riverinnortheast Arkansas by the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission from September 1985 to September 1986. A total of 68 different fish specieswas collected. Sampling was performed by electrofishing, beach seining, and hoop netting.Two species of fish were collected for the first time from the Spring River. Moxostoma macrolepidotum, the shorthead redhorse, was moderatelycommon in samples collected from the Hardy area (NE !4, Sll, T19N, R5W) south to Williford (SE !4, S36, T19N, R4W). M.macrolepidotumwas collected by electrofishing in deeper pools below riffleareas, and was often found in conjunction with M. erythrurum. Although widely distributedthroughout central and eastern United States (Jenkins, 1980), M.macrolepidotum has not previously been documented from the Spring River drainage.Carassius auratus, the goldfish, was also collected from the Spring River at Hardy (NE !4, Sll, T19N, R4W). One specimen was collectedby electrofishing in a deep pool and was likely a bait bucket release. This capture was the first collection of C. auratus from the Spring River.Two fish species represent modern day catch records. Cycleptus elongatus, the blue sucker, was represented by one specimen collected atHardy (NE !4,Sll, T19N, RW4). The most recent collection of C. elongatus from the Spring River was by Meek (1894). Robison (1974) notedthat it was a rare inhabitant of the state. Pflieger (1975) discussed the typical habitat of the blue sucker as being large rivers. The site of collectionin the Spring River drainage was at Hardy Beach, a stretch of the Spring River immediately south of water normally utilized by trout and characterizedby clear water and moderately swift current. Thus, this occurrence also marked a collection of C. elongatus inan atypical habitat.The American eel, Anguilla rostrata, was also collected in vegetated pools in the Hardy area. Winters (1985) noted that A. rostrata was observedin a fisherman's creel near Spring River Oakes Camp in Fulton County. Two specimens were collected by electrofishing in this survey.Two species of fish were collected at locations which extended their distributions within the drainage. The gizzard shad, Dorosoma cepe-dianum, was documented by Winters (1985) as an inhabitant of the South Fork and lower reaches of the Spring River. Inthis survey D. cepedianumwas frequently collected by electrofishing in pools at Hardy and Williford.The sauger (Stizostedion canadense) was noted by Winters (1985) as part of a fisherman's creel near Ravenden. Buchanan (1973) recordsS. canadense only from the lower reaches of the Spring River. The sauger was collected in this survey from both Hardy and Williford and wasan inhabitant of deep pools below riffle areas.This survey, coupled with several others throughout the Spring River drainage, reemphasizes that the Spring River is a valuable river systemwith a highly diverse ichthyofaunal which demands careful monitoring and conservation. Future studies may document still more previously un-discovered species of fish from the system.We gratefully thank J. K. Beadles, Thomas Buchanan, and George Harp with their assistance in identifying some of the specimens.LITERATURE CITEDBOUNDS, S. M., J. K. BEADLES, and B.M. JOHNSON. The fishesof Randolph County, Arkansas. Proc. Ark.Acad. Sci. 31:21-25.BUCHANAN, T. M. 1973. The fishes of Arkansas. Little Rock,Arkansas, Ark. Game and Fish Comm. 68 pp.CARTER, F. A., and J. K. BEADLES. 1980. The fishes of RockCreek, Sharp County, Ark. Proc. Ark. Acad. Sci. 34:38-40.FOWLER, C. L.,and G. L.HARP. 1974. Ichthyofaunal diversifica-tion in Jane's Creek watershed, Randolph County, Ark.Proc. Ark.Acad. Sci. 28:13-18.JENKINS, R. E. 1980. Moxostoma macrolepidotum (Lesueur). Short-head redhorse. Pp. 427-428, in D. S. Lee, C. R. Gilbert, C. H.Hocutt, R. E. Jenkins, B. E. McAllister, J. R. Stauffer, Jr. Atlasof North American Freshwater Fishes. North Carolina St. Mus.Nat. History, Raleigh, NC. 854 pp.JOHNSON, B. M., and J. K. BEADLES. 1977. Fishes of the ElevenPoint River within Arkansas. Proc. Ark. Acad. Sci. 31:56-61.MEEK, S. E. 1894. Report of investigations respecting fishes of Ar-kansas collected during 1891, 1892, and 1893, with a synopsis ofprevious investigations in the same state. Bull.U.S. Fish Commis-sion. 14:67-94.PFLIEGER, W. L. 1975. Fishes of Missouri. Missouri Dept. ofCon-servation. St. Joseph, MO. 343 pp.ROBISON, H. W. 1974. Threatened fishes of Arkansas. Proc. Ark.Acad. Sci. 28:59-64.WINTERS, S. A. 1985. Taxa and occurrences of fishes withinthe Springriver sub-basin (Black River drainage) ofSouth Central Missouriand Northeast Arkansas. M.S. thesis, Northeast Louisiana Univer-sity, Monroe, Louisiana.STEVEC. BAKER'andMICHAELL.ARMSTRONG, Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, No. 2 Natural Resources Drive, LittleRock, AR 72205,'Present address: Southern Illinois Fish Laboratory, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, Illinois 62901-6511.96Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science, Vol. 41 [1987], Art. 25Published by Arkansas Academy of Science, 1987

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Recent Collections of Fishes from the Spring River Drainage in Northeast Arkansas

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