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INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION
Aims of the distributional study here reported on concerning the fishes of a part of the Arkansas River Basin of south-central Kansas were as follows: (1) Ascertain what species occur in streams of the three counties. (2) Ascertain habitat preferences for the species found. (3) Distinguish faunal associations existing in different parts of the same stream. (4) Describe differences and similarities among the fish faunas of the several streams in the area. (5) Relate the findings to the over-all p
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PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF STREAMS
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF STREAMS
The stream channels derive their physical characteristics from the geological make-up of the area and from land-use. The Arkansas River typically has low banks; however, in a few places, as in the NE ¼ of Section 21, T. 33 S, R. 3 E, it cuts into limestone members to form steep rocky banks. The bottom is predominantly sand. In years of heavy rainfall the river is turbid, but during 1956, when it occupied only a small portion of its channel, it was clear each time observed. All streams surveyed w
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Table 1.—Cubic Feet Per Second of Water Discharged at Gauging Stations in Chautauqua, Elk, Montgomery, and Cowley Counties for Years Prior to 1951.
Table 1.—Cubic Feet Per Second of Water Discharged at Gauging Stations in Chautauqua, Elk, Montgomery, and Cowley Counties for Years Prior to 1951.
Something of the effect that drought and flash-flood have had on Big Caney River is shown by the monthly means of daily discharge from October, 1954, to September, 1956, at the stream-gauging station near Elgin, Kansas (Table 2). Within these monthly variations there are also pronounced daily fluctuations; on Big Caney River approximately ¼ mile south of Elgin, Kansas, discharge in cubic feet per second for May, 1944, ranged from .7 to 9,270.0 and for May, 1956, from .03 to 20.0....
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PRESENT FLORA
PRESENT FLORA
The flora of the region varies greatly at the present time. Land-use has altered the original floral communities, especially in the intensively cultivated area of western Cowley County and in the river valleys. The sandy Arkansas River floodplain exhibits several stages ranging from sparsely vegetated sandy mounds near the river through stages of Johnson grass, willow, and cottonwood, to an elm-hackberry fringe-forest. The Wellington formation bordering the floodplain supports a prairie flora wh
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Table 3.—Sewage Disposal Facilities in Some South-central Kansas Communities.
Table 3.—Sewage Disposal Facilities in Some South-central Kansas Communities.
Pollution by petroleum wastes from refineries has also affected the streams studied. The only refinery within the area is at Arkansas City. In Butler County there are four refineries on the Walnut watershed upstream from the area surveyed. Metzler (1952) noted that "fish-kills" occurred from the mid-1940's until 1952 in connection with wastes periodically discharged from these refineries. However, the largest kill, in 1944, was attributed to excessive brine pollution. In Arkansas City a meat-pac
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CONSERVATION
CONSERVATION
In recent years several measures have been implemented or proposed to conserve the water and land resources of the Arkansas River Basin. Droughts and floods have focused public attention on such conservation. Less spectacular, but nevertheless important, problems confronting conservationists include streambank erosion, channel deterioration, silting, recreational demands for water, and irrigation needs. Congress has authorized the U. S. Corps of Engineers (by the Flood Control Act of 1941) to co
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Table 4.—Collections Made by Dr. Frank B. Cross of the State Biological Survey in 1955.
Table 4.—Collections Made by Dr. Frank B. Cross of the State Biological Survey in 1955.
Claire Schelske (1957) studied fishes of the Fall and Verdigris Rivers in Wilson and Montgomery counties from March, 1954, to February, 1955. In the annotated list of species that follows, records other than mine are designated by the following symbols: E&F—Evermann and Fordice SBS—State Biological Survey (1910-1912) J&J—Jewell and Jobes (collection on Silver Creek) C—Collection number—Cross (State Biological Survey, 1955) UMMZ—University of Michigan Museum of Zoology OAM—Oklahom
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I am grateful to Professor Frank B. Cross for his interest in my investigation, for his counsel, and for his penetrating criticism of this paper. This study would have been impossible without the assistance of several persons who helped in the field. Mr. Artie C. Metcalf and Mr. Delbert Metcalf deserve special thanks for their enthusiastic and untiring co-operation in collecting and preserving of specimens. Mrs. Artie C. Metcalf, Miss Patricia Metcalf, Mr. Chester Metcalf, and Mr. Forrest W. Met
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MATERIALS AND METHODS
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Collections were made by means of: (1) a four-foot net of nylon screen; (2) a 10×4-foot "common-sense" woven seine with ¼-inch mesh; (3) a 15×4-foot knotted mesh seine; (4) a 20×5-foot ¼-inch mesh seine; (5) pole and line (natural and artificial baits). At most stations the four-foot, ten-foot, and twenty-foot seines were used; however, the equipment that was used varied according to the size of pool, number of obstructions, nature of bottom, amount of f
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COLLECTING STATIONS
COLLECTING STATIONS
Collecting was done at stations listed below and shown in Fig. 2. Each station was assigned a letter, designating the stream system on which the station was located, and a number which indicates the position of the station on the stream. This number increases progressively upstream from mouth to source. Code letters used are as follows: A&Mdash;Arkansas River; W—Walnut River System; B—Beaver Creek System; C—Big Caney River System; G—Grouse Creek System; M—Middle Caney Creek System; E—Elk
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ANNOTATED LIST OF SPECIES
ANNOTATED LIST OF SPECIES
Lepisosteus osseus oxyurus (Linnaeus): Stations A-1, W-2, W-3, G-2, G-3, G-4, C-1, C-2, C-3, C-5, C-8. Of 34 longnose gar taken, 27 were young-of-the-year. The latter were from shallow isolated pools (bedrock bottom at C-1, C-3, C-4; gravel bottom at C-6). At station W-1 in moderate flood conditions several young-of-the-year were found in the most sheltered water next to the banks. The longnose gar was found only in the lower parts of the streams surveyed (but were observed by me in smaller trib
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FISHES OF DOUBTFUL OR POSSIBLE OCCURRENCE
FISHES OF DOUBTFUL OR POSSIBLE OCCURRENCE
In addition to the species listed above, the following species have been reported nearby and may occur within the area surveyed. Lepisosteus productus (Cope)—This gar has not been reported from Kansas. It has been taken at several points in the northern half of Oklahoma and as far west as Canton Reservoir by Buck and Cross (1951). A specimen of the spotted gar was taken by Elkin (1954:28) in Salt Creek in Osage County, Oklahoma. Polyodon spathula (Walbaum)—The paddlefish has never been reported
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Table 5.—Species of Fishes Collected and Number of Stations in Each Stream System at Which Each Species Was Found.
Table 5.—Species of Fishes Collected and Number of Stations in Each Stream System at Which Each Species Was Found.
An analysis of faunal variations in different parts of the same stream system was made for Big Caney River and Grouse Creek. Collecting was more extensive in these streams, and sampling was done over a wider range of habitat, than in the Arkansas and Walnut rivers. The fish taken in the first five seine hauls at each station were counted and the number of each species was recorded as a percentage of the total number of fish taken. These percentages were calculated for the main stream and for eac
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Big Caney River
Big Caney River
The "lower segment" of Big Caney River is immediately upstream from Hulah Reservoir, and is not the lowermost portion of the entire river basin, but merely the lower part of the river in the area studied. A conspicuous characteristic of the lower segment was the general restriction of the deep-bodied suckers and the carp to this part of the stream. Other fishes that were most common in the lower section were Pimephales vigilax , Percina phoxocephala , Gambusia affinis , and Aplodinotus grunniens
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Grouse Creek
Grouse Creek
The fauna of the main stream of Grouse Creek fluctuated more in number and kinds of fish from station to station than did the fauna of Big Caney River. Again, the deep-bodied suckers showed downstream proclivities. In addition, Notropis buchanani , Pimephales tenellus , Percina copelandi , Percina phoxocephala , Notropis percobromus and Pylodictis olivaris were taken only at the lowermost station (G-1). At stations G-2 and G-3 the creek is sluggish and often turbid, meandering between high mud b
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Table 8.—Fish Taken in Nine Pools on Upper Beaver Creek (Progressing From Downstream to Upstream).
Table 8.—Fish Taken in Nine Pools on Upper Beaver Creek (Progressing From Downstream to Upstream).
A series of collections similar to that on Crab Creek was carried out along 1½ miles of Beaver Creek on July 22, 1956. Nine pools were sampled (Table 8) of which number nine was the uppermost point where water was found (except for farm ponds). Mainly young of Lepomis cyanellus and Ictalurus melas were found in the uppermost stations, as on Crab Creek. Only adults of Notropis lutrensis and Notropis umbratilis were taken. In another small intermittent tributary of Grouse Creek two collections (G-
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Table 9.—Fishes Taken in a Tributary of Grouse Creek.
Table 9.—Fishes Taken in a Tributary of Grouse Creek.
At two other stations, only Lepomis cyanellus was found. One of these stations consisted of several small spring-fed pools in a dry arroyo tributary to Little Beaver Creek. Around these small "oases" rushes and smartweeds grew and blackbirds were nesting in the rushes. Although green sunfish up to eight inches in length were common in the shallow pools, no other species was found. The second station (C-17) on the East Fork Big Caney River is of special interest. The pool was isolated, had dimens
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Table 10.—Present Westernmost Records of Some Fishes in the Arkansas River Basin in Kansas.
Table 10.—Present Westernmost Records of Some Fishes in the Arkansas River Basin in Kansas.
Spring River Cottus carolinae Dionda nubila Etheostoma blennioides Etheostoma gracile Etheostoma nigrum nigrum Etheostoma punctulatum Etheostoma saxatile Hypentelium nigricans Moxostoma duquesnii Notropis spilopterus Noturus exilis Neosho River Cycleptus elongatus Etheostoma chlorosomum Etheostoma flabellare lineolatum Hybopsis amblops Hybopsis biguttata Hybopsis x-punctata Notropis zonatus pilsbryi Verdigris River Etheostoma whipplii Etheostoma zonale arcansanum Percina copelandi Moxostoma cari
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Arkansas River Fauna
Arkansas River Fauna
This fauna contained Notropis girardi , Notropis blennius , Hybopsis aestivalis tetranemus , and Fundulus kansae which, in this area, did not seem to wander far from the sandy main stream of the Arkansas. Minnows abounded; Notropis lutrensis and N. deliciosus missuriensis predominated; and Notropis girardi , N. percobromus , and Hybognathus placita were common. In quiet backwaters, coves, and shallow pools Gambusia affinis occurred in great numbers. Lepisosteus osseus seemed to be the most impor
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Lower Walnut River Fauna
Lower Walnut River Fauna
The Walnut River in Cowley County supported large populations of deep-bodied suckers, carp, and gar. Notropis lutrensis and N. percobromus were characteristic minnows. Lepomis humilis abounded at some stations. The fauna of the main stream of the Walnut River was somewhat intermediate between that of the Arkansas River and that of the three streams considered below. Fifteen of the species common to the Big Caney, Elk, and Grouse systems were also taken in the Walnut River main stream. Thirteen s
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Caney-Elk-Grouse Main Stream Fauna
Caney-Elk-Grouse Main Stream Fauna
This fauna includes fishes living not only in the main streams but also in the lower parts of the larger tributaries of these streams. The fauna was comparatively rich: in the main stream of Big Caney River 39 species were taken, in Grouse Creek 35 species, in the Walnut River main stream 21 species, and in the Arkansas River 19 species. It has been pointed out that large rivers such as the Walnut and Arkansas have been subjected to greater direct and indirect modification by man, possibly resul
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Upland Tributary Fauna
Upland Tributary Fauna
Tributary faunas were divisible into two categories: (1) Those of the Walnut River and Grouse Creek (intermittency was severe, species were few, with Ictalurus melas and Lepomis cyanellus predominating); (2) those of Big Caney River (stream-flow was more stable, and eastern fishes, some of which have Ozarkian affinities, occurred in greater abundance than in any other part of the area surveyed). In the latter streams Campostoma anomalum and Etheostoma spectabile usually were dominant. Pimephales
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UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS PUBLICATIONS MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY
UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS PUBLICATIONS MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY
Institutional libraries interested in publications exchange may obtain this series by addressing the Exchange Librarian, University of Kansas Library, Lawrence, Kansas. Copies for individuals, persons working in a particular field of study, may be obtained by addressing instead the Museum of Natural History, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas. There is no provision for sale of this series by the University Library which meets institutional requests, or by the Museum of Natural History which
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