Sewell, Stephen A.

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Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science Volume 33 Article 40 1979 Age and Growth of White Crappie, Pomoxis annularis Refinesque, from a Flood-Created Pond in Mississippi County, Arkansas Stephen A. Sewell Arkansas State University Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.uark.edu/jaas  Part of the Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology Commons Recommended Citation Sewell, Stephen A. (1979) "Age and Growth of White Crappie, Pomoxis annularis Refinesque, from a Flood-Created Pond in Mississippi County, Arkansas," Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science: Vol. 33 , Article 40. Available at: https://scholarworks.uark.edu/jaas/vol33/iss1/40 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. 90 Arkansas Academy of Science Proceedings, Vol.XXXIII,1979Arkansas Academy of ScienceRiver, SE of Oxford(Sec. 30, R8W,T18N) (2);BullPen Creek, NW of Wiseman (Sec. 10. R8W, T18N) (1).SHARP Co.: Unnamed tributary ofBigCreek (Sec. 33,R5W, T16N) (3).On 15 October 1978, asingle 118 mm specimen ofIchthyomyzon castaneus was collected from the Strawberry River at St. Hwy. 115 (Sec. 17T16N, R3W), Lawrence County. The specimen was still inthe process of transforming into an adult; however, several clues to its identity werenoted including a well-developed intestine, developing bicuspid teeth in the inner circle of the oral disc and relatively large buccal funnel. Dr.George A.Moore, Oklahoma State University, kindlyverified the identification.Commercial fishermen have provided documentation of the presence ofScaphirhynchus platorynchus and Polyodon spathula near the con-fluence of the Strawberry and Black rivers where these two large river forms probably utilize the resources of the Strawberry River when condi-tions are favorable.The collection of a single specimen of Pimephales promelas, undoubtedly a bait release, was taken from the headwaters of the river ap-proximately 8mi. S.W. of Salem, Fulton County, on4 April1975. This represents the onlyrecord of this species inthe system.An excellent collecting site inLawrence County just upstream from the St. Hwy. 115 bridge (Sec. 17, T15N, R3W) 1 mi. N.of Jesup hasyielded records of the additional seven species denoted in this paper. Six collections have been made to date from this locality. A total of eightspecimens of Hybopsis x-punctata have been collected at this location over small gravel in the main current. The richness of the diversity of theHwy.115collecting site is demonstrated by the collection of a total of51 species, including 17 species of etheostomatine fishes.Fivepercid fishes are added to the stream list. Nine specimens ofCystallaria (=Ammocrypta) asprella were taken in three collections at St.Hwy. 115. A total of four Ammocrypta clara was taken over sand habitats at the Hwy. 115 location and N. of the St. Hwy. 58 bridge near Pough-keepsie. Fifteen specimens of Etheostoma histrio have been collected from the St. Hwy.115collecting locality. Forty-seven specimens of the twocryptic species, Percina ouachitae and P. uranidea, have been taken to date from the St. Hwy. 115 locality on four occasions. Specimens of theStrawberry River P. uranidea were used in the original description of the snail darter, Percina tanasi Etnier, inTennessee (Etnier, 1976, Percina(Imostoma) tanasi, a new percid fish from the LittleTennessee River,Tennessee, Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington, 88 (44):469-488). Thirteen specimensof Percina shumardi have also been taken from the Hwy. 115 location, includinga large, 60.2 mm SL(71.1 mmTL) male specimen.With the addition of these 12 species the Strawberry River is now documented tohave 107 species. This richness in diversity is exemplary ofthe upland streams inthe Ozark physiographic province and indeed, compares withthe richest streams inNorth America.HENRY W. ROBISON, Department ofBiologicalSciences, Southern Arkansas University, Magnolia, Arkansas 71753.AGE AND GROWTH OF WHITE CRAPPIE, Pomoxis annularis RAFINESQUE, FROM A FLOOD-CREATED PONDIN MISSISSIPPI COUNTY, ARKANSASWhite Crappie, Pomoxis annularis Rafinesque, originally were found inlakes, ponds, bayous, and slow-moving streams and rivers from easternSouth Dakota to western New York and south in the Mississippi River and Gulf ofMexico drainage to Alabama and Texas. They have been intro-duced into other suitable waters (Carlander, 1977). In Arkansas, the white crappie occurs in all major rivers (Buchanan, 1973) and reservoirs(Ball,1972), comprising a significant portion of the annual sport harvest inboth (Morais, 1975). Many growth studies have been done involvingwhite crappie directly or as a sympatric species, as evidenced by the bulk of data compiled on the species byCarlander (1977). This paper de-scribes the age and growthof white crappie inButterfly Hole, a flood-created impoundment of the Mississippi River.Butterfly Hole islocated approximately 2.2 km north of Tomato, section 7, T14N, R13E, Mississippi County, Arkansas, in an area almost en-tirely devoted to farming. Butterfly Hole was formed during the Fall-Winter flooding of 1974, by flood-stage waters of the Mississippi River.Thehold covers approximately 1.5 surface acres with bottom depths ranging from 0.3 to 10.7 meters. Due to its depth, Butterfly Hole has never beendry since its creation. Many such water bodies are created with each flood period, but most are shallow and dryup during the summer monthswhen temperatures average 91°F (Ferguson and Gray, 1971).Fifty-four white crappie were collected to determine the growth characteristics of the species in Butterfly Hole, following a completerotenone killby the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission.There is littleevidence of sex differences in the growth of white crappie (Carlander, 1977). Therefore, no sexually dimorphic growth patternswere assumed to exist, and nosuch differentations were attempted.Scales forstudy were selected by the use of the "key scale" method suggested by Lagler (1956). Key scales were designated as those from anarea approximately 10 back from the head and 5 down from the lateral line along the right side of the fish. Approximately 20 scales were takenfrom each fish. Total length inmm and total weight ingrams were recorded foreach fish upon capture.Scale annuli counts were made by use of an American Optical dissecting microscope in conjunction with an American Optical Model #651.7.5 volt light source. Distances were measured on each scale using a USDA metric planners rule from focus to each annulus, and from focus toscale margin along the anterior median of each scale.The age determinations were made by counting the number of annuli. Since collection was made inlate summer, after annulus formation(Hallet al.. 1954), the age referred to herein represents the number of the last complete annulus.The length (66-356 ram)-weight (5.5-718 g)relationship was Log W =0.924 Log L+0. 134. The regression coefficient of0.924 was signifi-cantly different from 3.0 (t54 = 5.33), indicating that the weight of the crappie did not increase as the cube of length. Figure 1 further illustrate 5the rapidly decreasing rate of weigh gain of allwhite crappie within the hole, followingimpoundment (1974). , ,The coefficient of condition, K,was calculated for each of the crappie from the expression. K=-jtX 100. The coefficient for the indiviouafish ranged from 1.45 to 1.95 withan average of 1.64. The average coefficient of the Butterfly Hole crappie was higher than that reported by Wm¦acre (1952) in Crab Orchard Lake, Illinois (0.67), and higher than that reported by Witt (1952) from Lake Norfork, Missouri (1.32) and LakeTaneycomo, Missouri, (1.33). Average condition coefficients for the year classes are given inTable 1.The total length (L)- scale radius (S) relationship for the ButterflyHole crappie was L = 50.98 +48.53S with a correlation coefficient (r)of0.96. The average calculated lengths at the time of annuli formation are given in Table 2. Comparison of lengths of age-groups I,II,and I"revealed no difference at the 0.01 levelbetween the year classes 1975 through 1977. Therefore, the postimpoundment growth was the same forallthese year classes.90Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science, Vol. 33 [1979], Art. 40Published by Arkansas Academy of Science, 197991Arkansas Academy of Science Proceedings, Vol.XXXIII,1979General NotesFigure 1: True weight gain (W2-W, )white crappie collected fromButterfly Hole by year class (Ricker, 1975).¦: 1. Average coefficient of condition (KTL) for year classesthrough 1977. Table 2. The average calculated total lengths (mm) of whitecrappie from Butterfly Hole.Year Class Average KTL Year Class 1 2 3 4 5Number ofFish1972 1.59 1 1972 124 187 250 313 342104 165 223 265 296117 172 226 2631973 1.55 197331974 1.51 6 19741975 1.75 31 1975 107 156 200106 1491976 1.58 11 19761978 1.93 2 1977 95Average 109 166 215 280 324Numberof fish2 11 31 6 3LITERATURE CITEDBALL,R. L. 1972. The feeding ecology of black and white crappieinBeaver Reservoir. Unpbl. MS Thesis, U. of Arkansas, Fay-etteville, Ark. 181 p.BUCHANAN, T. M., 1973. Handbook of freshwater fisheriesbiology, Vol.II.Iowa State Univ.Press, Ames, Iowa. 431 p.. IFERGUSON, D.V.and I.L.GRAY.1971. Soil survey of MississippiCounty, Arkansas. U.S. Gov't Printing Office, Washington, D.C76p.BUSON,nty,. p.HALL,G. E., R. M. JENKINS and J. C. FINNELL.1954. The influ-ence of environmental factors on the growth of crappie inOkla-homa waters. Okla. Fish. Res. Lab. Rpt.40:1-56.., .MORAIS, D.I.1975. Estimates of sportfisherman use and harvest,BullShoals Lake, 1971-1974. Unpbl.Report, USFWS. 23p.RICKER, W. E. 1975. Computation and interpretation of biologicalstatistics for fish populations. Fish. Res. Brd. Canada Bull.#191:203-233.WHITACRE, M.A.1952. The fishes of Crab Orchard Lake, Illinois.Midwest Wildl. Conf. 14:1-41.WITT. A.J. 1952. Age and growth of the white crappie in Missouri.Doct. Dissert. U.ofMissouri, Columbia, MO.213 p.BHENA.SEWELL, Dept. ofBiology,Arkansas State University, State University 72467. (Present address: Soil Conservation Service, P.O.76. Melbourne. Arkansas 72556).rDITIONS, DELETIONS, AND CORRECTIONS FOR THE ATLAS AND ANNOTATED LIST OF THE VASCULAR PLANTSOF ARKANSASi>incethe publication of the Atlas and Annotated List of the Vascular Plants of Arkansas (Smith, 1978, Student Union Bookstore, U.of Ark.yetteville, Fayetteville, Ark.,592 pp.), a large number of new county records and new reports and several new state records and deletionscome to our attention. Over 800 new county records, several new reports, and several deletions are covered in a "Quick Copy" list availablethe senior author. Approximately half of the new county records in the "Quick Copy" list have been found by Gwen Barber inher study ofora of Franklin County. The new state records are presented in the followinglist. Voucher specimens are ondeposit in the herbarium at Fay-ille.91Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science, Vol. 33 [1979], Art. 40https://scholarworks.uark.edu/jaas/vol33/iss1/40

Age and Growth of White Crappie, Pomoxis annularis Refinesque, from a Flood-Created Pond in Mississippi County, Arkansas

ScholarWorks@UARK

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of ScienceVolume 33 Article 401979Age and Growth of White Crappie, Pomoxisannularis Refinesque, from a Flood-Created Pondin Mississippi County, ArkansasStephen A. SewellArkansas State UniversityFollow this and additional works at: http://scholarworks.uark.edu/jaasPart of the Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology 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 CitationSewell, Stephen A. (1979) "Age and Growth of White Crappie, Pomoxis annularis Refinesque, from a Flood-Created Pond inMississippi County, Arkansas," Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science: Vol. 33 , Article 40.Available at: http://scholarworks.uark.edu/jaas/vol33/iss1/4090 Arkansas Academy of Science Proceedings, Vol.XXXIII,1979Arkansas Academy of ScienceRiver, SE of Oxford(Sec. 30, R8W,T18N) (2);BullPen Creek, NW of Wiseman (Sec. 10. R8W, T18N) (1).SHARP Co.: Unnamed tributary ofBigCreek (Sec. 33,R5W, T16N) (3).On 15 October 1978, asingle 118 mm specimen ofIchthyomyzon castaneus was collected from the Strawberry River at St. Hwy. 115 (Sec. 17T16N, R3W), Lawrence County. The specimen was still inthe process of transforming into an adult; however, several clues to its identity werenoted including a well-developed intestine, developing bicuspid teeth in the inner circle of the oral disc and relatively large buccal funnel. Dr.George A.Moore, Oklahoma State University, kindlyverified the identification.Commercial fishermen have provided documentation of the presence ofScaphirhynchus platorynchus and Polyodon spathula near the con-fluence of the Strawberry and Black rivers where these two large river forms probably utilize the resources of the Strawberry River when condi-tions are favorable.The collection of a single specimen of Pimephales promelas, undoubtedly a bait release, was taken from the headwaters of the river ap-proximately 8mi. S.W. of Salem, Fulton County, on4 April1975. This represents the onlyrecord of this species inthe system.An excellent collecting site inLawrence County just upstream from the St. Hwy. 115 bridge (Sec. 17, T15N, R3W) 1 mi. N.of Jesup hasyielded records of the additional seven species denoted in this paper. Six collections have been made to date from this locality. A total of eightspecimens of Hybopsis x-punctata have been collected at this location over small gravel in the main current. The richness of the diversity of theHwy.115collecting site is demonstrated by the collection of a total of51 species, including 17 species of etheostomatine fishes.Fivepercid fishes are added to the stream list. Nine specimens ofCystallaria (=Ammocrypta) asprella were taken in three collections at St.Hwy. 115. A total of four Ammocrypta clara was taken over sand habitats at the Hwy. 115 location and N. of the St. Hwy. 58 bridge near Pough-keepsie. Fifteen specimens of Etheostoma histrio have been collected from the St. Hwy.115collecting locality. Forty-seven specimens of the twocryptic species, Percina ouachitae and P. uranidea, have been taken to date from the St. Hwy. 115 locality on four occasions. Specimens of theStrawberry River P. uranidea were used in the original description of the snail darter, Percina tanasi Etnier, inTennessee (Etnier, 1976, Percina(Imostoma) tanasi, a new percid fish from the LittleTennessee River,Tennessee, Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington, 88 (44):469-488). Thirteen specimensof Percina shumardi have also been taken from the Hwy. 115 location, includinga large, 60.2 mm SL(71.1 mmTL) male specimen.With the addition of these 12 species the Strawberry River is now documented tohave 107 species. This richness in diversity is exemplary ofthe upland streams inthe Ozark physiographic province and indeed, compares withthe richest streams inNorth America.HENRY W. ROBISON, Department ofBiologicalSciences, Southern Arkansas University, Magnolia, Arkansas 71753.AGE AND GROWTH OF WHITE CRAPPIE, Pomoxis annularis RAFINESQUE, FROM A FLOOD-CREATED PONDIN MISSISSIPPI COUNTY, ARKANSASWhite Crappie, Pomoxis annularis Rafinesque, originally were found inlakes, ponds, bayous, and slow-moving streams and rivers from easternSouth Dakota to western New York and south in the Mississippi River and Gulf ofMexico drainage to Alabama and Texas. They have been intro-duced into other suitable waters (Carlander, 1977). In Arkansas, the white crappie occurs in all major rivers (Buchanan, 1973) and reservoirs(Ball,1972), comprising a significant portion of the annual sport harvest inboth (Morais, 1975). Many growth studies have been done involvingwhite crappie directly or as a sympatric species, as evidenced by the bulk of data compiled on the species byCarlander (1977). This paper de-scribes the age and growthof white crappie inButterfly Hole, a flood-created impoundment of the Mississippi River.Butterfly Hole islocated approximately 2.2 km north of Tomato, section 7, T14N, R13E, Mississippi County, Arkansas, in an area almost en-tirely devoted to farming. Butterfly Hole was formed during the Fall-Winter flooding of 1974, by flood-stage waters of the Mississippi River.Thehold covers approximately 1.5 surface acres with bottom depths ranging from 0.3 to 10.7 meters. Due to its depth, Butterfly Hole has never beendry since its creation. Many such water bodies are created with each flood period, but most are shallow and dryup during the summer monthswhen temperatures average 91°F (Ferguson and Gray, 1971).Fifty-four white crappie were collected to determine the growth characteristics of the species in Butterfly Hole, following a completerotenone killby the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission.There is littleevidence of sex differences in the growth of white crappie (Carlander, 1977). Therefore, no sexually dimorphic growth patternswere assumed to exist, and nosuch differentations were attempted.Scales forstudy were selected by the use of the "key scale" method suggested by Lagler (1956). Key scales were designated as those from anarea approximately 10 back from the head and 5 down from the lateral line along the right side of the fish. Approximately 20 scales were takenfrom each fish. Total length inmm and total weight ingrams were recorded foreach fish upon capture.Scale annuli counts were made by use of an American Optical dissecting microscope in conjunction with an American Optical Model #651.7.5 volt light source. Distances were measured on each scale using a USDA metric planners rule from focus to each annulus, and from focus toscale margin along the anterior median of each scale.The age determinations were made by counting the number of annuli. Since collection was made inlate summer, after annulus formation(Hallet al.. 1954), the age referred to herein represents the number of the last complete annulus.The length (66-356 ram) - weight (5.5 - 718 g)relationship was Log W =0.924 Log L+0. 134. The regression coefficient of0.924 was signifi-cantly different from 3.0 (t54 = 5.33), indicating that the weight of the crappie did not increase as the cube of length. Figure 1 further illustrate 5the rapidly decreasing rate of weigh gain of allwhite crappie within the hole, followingimpoundment (1974). , ,The coefficient of condition, K,was calculated for each of the crappie from the expression. K=-jtX 100. The coefficient for the indiviouafish ranged from 1.45 to 1.95 withan average of 1.64. The average coefficient of the Butterfly Hole crappie was higher than that reported by Wm¦acre (1952) in Crab Orchard Lake, Illinois (0.67), and higher than that reported by Witt (1952) from Lake Norfork, Missouri (1.32) and LakeTaneycomo, Missouri, (1.33). Average condition coefficients for the year classes are given inTable 1.The total length (L)- scale radius (S) relationship for the ButterflyHole crappie was L = 50.98 +48.53S with a correlation coefficient (r)of0.96. The average calculated lengths at the time of annuli formation are given in Table 2. Comparison of lengths of age-groups I,II,and I"revealed no difference at the 0.01 levelbetween the year classes 1975 through 1977. Therefore, the postimpoundment growth was the same forallthese year classes.90Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science, Vol. 33 [1979], Art. 40Published by Arkansas Academy of Science, 197991Arkansas Academy of Science Proceedings, Vol.XXXIII,1979General NotesFigure 1: True weight gain (W2-W, )white crappie collected fromButterfly Hole by year class (Ricker, 1975).¦: 1. Average coefficient of condition (KTL) for year classesthrough 1977. Table 2. The average calculated total lengths (mm) of whitecrappie from Butterfly Hole.Year Class Average KTL Year Class 1 2 3 4 5Number ofFish1972 1.59 1 1972 124 187 250 313 342104 165 223 265 296117 172 226 2631973 1.55 197331974 1.51 6 19741975 1.75 31 1975 107 156 200106 1491976 1.58 11 19761978 1.93 2 1977 95Average 109 166 215 280 324Numberof fish2 11 31 6 3LITERATURE CITEDBALL,R. L. 1972. The feeding ecology of black and white crappieinBeaver Reservoir. Unpbl. MS Thesis, U. of Arkansas, Fay-etteville, Ark. 181 p.BUCHANAN, T. M., 1973. Handbook of freshwater fisheriesbiology, Vol.II.Iowa State Univ.Press, Ames, Iowa. 431 p.. IFERGUSON, D.V.and I.L.GRAY.1971. Soil survey of MississippiCounty, Arkansas. U.S. Gov't Printing Office, Washington, D.C76p.BUSON,nty,. p.HALL,G. E., R. M. JENKINS and J. C. FINNELL.1954. The influ-ence of environmental factors on the growth of crappie inOkla-homa waters. Okla. Fish. Res. Lab. Rpt.40:1-56.., .MORAIS, D.I.1975. Estimates of sportfisherman use and harvest,BullShoals Lake, 1971-1974. Unpbl.Report, USFWS. 23p.RICKER, W. E. 1975. Computation and interpretation of biologicalstatistics for fish populations. Fish. Res. Brd. Canada Bull.#191:203-233.WHITACRE, M.A.1952. The fishes of Crab Orchard Lake, Illinois.Midwest Wildl. Conf. 14:1-41.WITT. A.J. 1952. Age and growth of the white crappie in Missouri.Doct. Dissert. U.ofMissouri, Columbia, MO.213 p.BHENA.SEWELL, Dept. ofBiology,Arkansas State University, State University 72467. (Present address: Soil Conservation Service, P.O.76. Melbourne. Arkansas 72556).rDITIONS, DELETIONS, AND CORRECTIONS FOR THE ATLAS AND ANNOTATED LIST OF THE VASCULAR PLANTSOF ARKANSASi>ince the publication of the Atlas and Annotated List of the Vascular Plants of Arkansas (Smith, 1978, Student Union Bookstore, U.of Ark.yetteville, Fayetteville, Ark.,592 pp.), a large number of new county records and new reports and several new state records and deletionscome to our attention. Over 800 new county records, several new reports, and several deletions are covered in a "Quick Copy" list availablethe senior author. Approximately half of the new county records in the "Quick Copy" list have been found by Gwen Barber inher study ofora of Franklin County. The new state records are presented in the followinglist. Voucher specimens are ondeposit in the herbarium at Fay-ille.91Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science, Vol. 33 [1979], Art. 40http://scholarworks.uark.edu/jaas/vol33/iss1/40

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Age and Growth of White Crappie, Pomoxis annularis Refinesque, from a Flood-Created Pond in Mississippi County, Arkansas

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