Fishes of the Big Blue River Basin, Kansas Part 6

=Stizostedion vitreum= (Mitchill), walleye.

Though I failed to obtain the walleye in my survey, Dr. Raymond E.

Johnson (personal communication) reported that the species occurred in the Nebraskan portion of the Big Blue River in recent years.

Canfield and Wiebe (1931:6, 10) reported that "yellow pike are taken at Crete [Nebraska]," but may have referred to either the walleye or the sauger.

=Perca flavescens= (Mitchill), yellow perch: Canfield and Wiebe (1931:5-6, 10) as "ring perch" and "yellow perch."

This fish was not taken in my survey. Canfield and Wiebe (_loc.

cit_.) reported that the yellow perch "had been planted by the State [Nebraska]."

=Etheostoma nigrum nigrum= Rafinesque, johnny darter: Jennings (1942:365) as _Boleosoma nigrum nigrum_ (Rafinesque). Stations 10-G, 11-G, 12-G, 13-G, 16-G, 29-G, 40-M, 53-S, and 54-G.

The larger pools of gravelly streams were preferred by johnny darters, but one specimen was taken from the main stream of the Big Blue River, and the species was abundant in one stream over hard, sand-silt bottom.

=Etheostoma spectabile pulch.e.l.lum= (Girard), orangethroat darter: Jennings (1942:365) as _Poecilichthys spectabilis pulch.e.l.lus_ (Girard). Stations 5-G, 7-G, 10-G, 11-G, 12-G, 13-G, 16-G, 17-G, 18-G, 21-G, 23-G, 27-G, 28-G, 29-G, 33-M, 40-M, 49-M, 53-S, 54-G, and 59-G.

The orangethroat darter was less restricted in habitat than the johnny darter, occurring in all stream-types, but most often in the riffles of gravelly streams. Most specimens from muddy or sandy streams were small.

=Aplodinotus grunniens= Rafinesque, freshwater drum. Stations 3-S, 4-S, 6-S, 7-G, 8-S, 15-S, 38-S, 39-S, 53-S, and 56-S.

The ages and calculated total lengths at the last annulus for 42 freshwater drum from the Big Blue River were: I, 3.0 (10); II, 5.7 (6); III, 9.4 (7); IV, 12.1 (13); V, 14.0 (3); VI, 15.1 (2); and VII, 16.3 (1).

HYBRID COMBINATIONS

I obtained two hybrid fishes in my study-area. One specimen of _Notropis cornutus frontalis_ _Chrosomus erythrogaster_ was taken at Station 29-G. This combination was recorded by Trautman (1957:114) in Ohio. The other hybrid was _Lepomis cyanellus_ _Lepomis humilis_, captured at Station 24-G. This combination was first recorded by Hubbs and Ortenburger (1929:42).

Hubbs and Bailey (1952:144) recorded another hybrid combination from my area of study: _Campostoma anomalum plumbeum_ _Chrosomus erythrogaster_, UMMZ 103132, from a "spring-fed creek on 'Doc'

Wagner's farm, Riley County, Kansas; September 21, 1927; L. O. Nolf [collector]."

RELATIVE ABUNDANCE AND DISCUSSION OF SPECIES

The relative abundance of different species was estimated by combining counts of individual fishes taken in 290 seine-hauls, 26 hours and 15 minutes of shocking, and seven samples obtained with rotenone. At some stations all seine-hauls were counted. At other stations the seine-hauls in which complete counts were recorded had been selected randomly in advance; that is to say, prior to collecting at each station. I selected those hauls to be counted from a table of random numbers (Snedecor, 1956:10-13). I did not use the frequency-of-occurrence method as proposed by Starrett (1950:114), in which the species taken and not the total number of individuals are recorded for all seine-hauls. However, the frequency of occurrence of each species is indicated by the number of stations at which it was found, and those stations are listed in the previous accounts. Table 3 shows the percentage of the total number of fish that each species comprised in three kinds of streams: sandy (Big Blue and Little Blue rivers), muddy, and gravelly streams.

The habitat preferences of some species affect their abundance in different stream-types. _Notropis lutrensis_ and _P. mirabilis_ seemed almost ubiquitous. _Notropis deliciosus_ also occurred in all kinds of streams (rarely in muddy streams); however, this species was represented by the sand-loving _N. d. missuriensis_ in the Big Blue and Little Blue rivers, and _N. d. deliciosus_ in the clear, gravelly, upland creeks (Nelson, personal communication). Because of its widespread occurrence, and for purposes of later discussion, I refer to this minnow also as an ubiquitous species in the Big Blue River Basin.

_Carpiodes carpio_, _Cyprinus carpio_, _I. punctatus_, _I. melas_, and _L. humilis_ were widespread, but each was absent or rare in one of the kinds of streams (Table 3). _Carpiodes carpio_, _Cyprinus carpio_, and _I. punctatus_ occurred most frequently in the sandy streams, whereas _L. humilis_ was most common in muddy streams. The high per cent of _I. melas_ in collections from the Big Blue River is a direct result of one large population that was taken with rotenone in a borrow-pit at Station 6-S. In my opinion, this species actually was most abundant in the muddy streams.

TABLE 3. RELATIVE ABUNDANCE OF FISHES IN PER CENT OF THE TOTAL NUMBER TAKEN, BIG BLUE RIVER BASIN, KANSAS. TRACE (TR.) IS USED FOR VALUES LESS THAN .05 PER CENT, AND DASHES SIGNIFY THAT THE SPECIES DID NOT OCCUR IN THE COUNTED COLLECTIONS ALTHOUGH IT MAY HAVE OCCURRED IN UNCOUNTED COLLECTIONS FROM THE SAME STREAM-TYPE. THREE SPECIES, _C. AURATUS_, _N. BUCHANANI_, AND _S. CANADENSE_, WERE NOT TAKEN IN COUNTED COLLECTIONS.

====================+=================+=========+========== | Sandy streams | | +--------+--------+ Muddy | Gravelly SPECIES | Big | Little | streams | streams | Blue | Blue | | | River | River | | --------------------+--------+--------+---------+---------- _N. lutrensis_ | 43.5 | 55.9 | 27.6 | 56.0 _I. punctatus_ | 14.0 | 7.0 | 1.2 | 4.2 _Carpiodes carpio_ | 11.9 | 2.0 | 5.0 | 0.5 _N. deliciosus_ | 8.2 | 28.2 | 3.1 | 11.1 _I. melas_ | 2.5 | -- | 1.3 | 0.5 _Cyprinus carpio_ | 2.3 | 1.9 | 2.7 | 0.2 _P. olivaris_ | 1.8 | 0.8 | -- | -- _L. humilis_ | 1.7 | -- | 9.0 | 5.1 _I. bubalus_ | 1.4 | 0.1 | -- | Tr.

_P. mirabilis_ | 1.3 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 1.3 _H. nuchalis_ | 1.2 | -- | -- | Tr.

_P. promelas_ | 0.8 | 1.0 | 28.7 | 4.0 _H. aestivalis_ | 0.7 | 0.2 | -- | -- _A. grunniens_ | 0.5 | -- | -- | 0.2 _L. osseus_ | 0.5 | 1.0 | -- | -- _C. anomalum_ | 0.4 | 0.2 | 2.7 | 4.6 _C. commersonnii_ | 0.4 | -- | -- | 0.7 _D. cepedianum_ | 0.4 | Tr. | 0.1 | -- _N. percobromus_ | 0.3 | -- | -- | -- _P. annularis_ | 0.3 | Tr. | -- | -- _N. flavus_ | 0.2 | 0.4 | -- | Tr.

_S. atromaculatus_ | 0.2 | 0.1 | 12.2 | 1.7 _M. aureolum_ | 0.1 | 0.2 | -- | -- _I. cyprinella_ | 0.1 | -- | 0.1 | -- _P. notatus_ | 0.1 | -- | -- | 2.2 _I. niger_ | 0.1 | 0.1 | -- | -- _H. alosoides_ | 0.1 | -- | -- | -- _E. spectabile_ | 0.1 | -- | 1.4 | 1.6 _R. chrysops_ | 0.1 | -- | -- | -- _L. cyanellus_ | 0.1 | -- | 3.5 | Tr.

_H. storeriana_ | Tr. | -- | -- | -- _L. platostomus_ | Tr. | -- | -- | -- _M. salmoides_ | Tr. | -- | -- | -- _P. nigromaculatus_ | Tr. | -- | -- | -- _I. natalis_ | Tr. | -- | 1.0 | Tr.

_N. umbratilis_ | Tr. | -- | -- | -- _C. forbesi_ | Tr. | -- | -- | -- _S. platorynchus_ | Tr. | -- | -- | -- _F. kansae_ | -- | Tr. | -- | -- _E. nigrum_ | Tr. | -- | 0.1 | 0.2 _N. rubellus_ | -- | -- | -- | Tr.

_N. topeka_ | -- | -- | -- | 1.0 _N. cornutus_ | -- | -- | -- | 1.0 _C. erythrogaster_ | -- | -- | -- | 1.0 _L. macrochirus_ | -- | -- | -- | 1.0 --------------------+--------+--------+---------+----------

Some fish were almost restricted to the sandy streams, apparently because of preference for larger waters, or sandy stream-bottoms: _P. olivaris_, _I. bubalus_, _H. nuchalis_, _H. aestivalis_, _A.

grunniens_, _L. osseus_, _D. cepedianum_, _N. percobromus_, _P.

annularis_, _N. flavus_, _M. aureolum_, _I. niger_, _H. alosiodes_, and _R. chrysops_. Other species that were taken only in the larger rivers, and that are sometimes a.s.sociated with streams even larger (or more sandy) than the Big Blue River are _H. storeriana_, _L.

platostomus_, _M. salmoides_, _P. nigromaculatus_, _C. forbesi_, _S.

platorynchus_, _F. kansae_, _N. buchanani_, _S. canadense_, and _C.

auratus_. _Ictiobus cyprinella_ also occurred more frequently in the larger streams.

The muddy-bottomed streams supported populations composed primarily of _P. promelas_, _N. lutrensis_, and _S. atromaculatus_. No species was restricted to this habitat, but the following were characteristic there: _P. promelas_, _S. atromaculatus_, _L.

humilis_, _L. cyanellus_, and _I. natalis_. _Carpiodes carpio_, _Cyprinus carpio_, _C. anomalum_, _E. spectabile_, and _E. nigrum_ were locally common in muddy streams, but the first two were most frequent in larger, sandy streams, and the last three in gravelly streams.

In gravel-bottomed, upland streams, _N. cornutus_, _N. rubellus_, _N. topeka_, and _C. erythrogaster_ characteristically occurred; with the exception of _N. rubellus_ (only one specimen taken), all were common at some stations. Other species in gravelly creeks were _N. lutrensis_, _C. anomalum_, _C. commersonnii_, _P. notatus_, _L.

macrochirus_, _E. spectabile_, and _E. nigrum_. Although the one specimen of _N. umbratilis_ taken in this survey was from the Big Blue River, this species is more characteristic of the clearer creeks in Kansas.

In order to ill.u.s.trate the composition of the fauna in some specific streams in the Big Blue River Basin, I segregated the fishes into ecological groups, as in the above discussion: ubiquitous types; species of larger, sandy streams; fishes of muddy streams; and fishes of clear, gravelly creeks.

The total number of species taken in each of the streams was divided into the number of species from that stream that were in each of these units, to give a percentage. The resultant data are presented graphically in Figure 3.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 3. Composition of the fauna of the entire Big Blue River Basin, and of seven streams or stream systems in that basin. "Mill Creek, Wash. Co." refers to all streams in the Mill Creek System, Washington and Republic counties.

"Bl. Vermillion R. System" includes all streams in that watershed excepting Clear Creek and one of its tributaries (Stations 31-G and 32-G).]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 4. Composition of the fauna of the Big Blue River, and of five collecting-sites on Carnahan Creek, Pottawatomie County. Lowermost sites are at the left of the figure.]

Figure 3 gives a generalized picture of the faunal composition in different kinds of streams. However, the fauna of a small tributary becomes more distinct from the fauna of the larger stream into which the small stream flows as one moves toward the headwaters (Metcalf, 1957:92, 95-100). Figure 4 ill.u.s.trates this in Carnahan Creek.

Station 11-G included four sampling-sites, which were approximately one, two, three, and four miles upstream from the mouth of Carnahan Creek. Station 13-G (one collection) was about four miles upstream from the closest sampling-site of Station 11-G. Applying the same methods as for Figure 3, my findings show a gradual decline in the per cent of the fauna represented by the "large-river-fishes," and an increase in the segment cla.s.sified as "upland-fishes," from downstream to upstream.

CREEL CENSUS

Fifty-three fishermen were interviewed in the 1957 creel census period, and 152 in 1958. Only those fishermen using pole and line were interviewed. In the area censused, much additional fishing is done with set-lines, that are checked periodically by the owners.

In the 1958 census, 22 checks along approximately 80 miles of river were made, and seven of these trips were made without seeing one fisherman. The average fishing pressure for the entire area was estimated at one fisherman per 7.9 miles of stream, or one fisherman per 15.7 miles of sh.o.r.eline.

Seven species of fish were identified from fishermen's creels in 1957 and 1958. These, in order of abundance were: channel catfish; carp; freshwater drum; flathead catfish; shovelnose sturgeon; smallmouth buffalo; and river carpsucker. Shovelnose sturgeon occurred in fishermen's creels only in April, 1957, and freshwater drum occurred more frequently in the spring-census of 1957 than in the summer of 1958.

Sixty-two of the fishermen interviewed in 1958 were fishing for "anything they could catch," 68 were fishing specifically for catfish, and 22 sought species other than catfish. The order of preference was as follows: channel catfish, 21.1 per cent; flathead catfish, 15.1 per cent; unspecified catfish, 12.5 per cent; carp, 9.2 per cent; freshwater drum, 1.3 per cent; and unspecified, 40.8 per cent. The kinds of fish desired by those fishermen checked in 1957 were not ascertained.

Of all fishermen checked in 1957 and 1958, 165 were men, 17 were women, and 24 were children. Ninety-three per cent were fishing from the bank, five per cent were fishing from bridges, and two per cent were wading. All but two per cent of those checked were fishing "tightline"; the remainder fished with a cork.