Fish Populations, Following a Drought, in the Neosho and Marais des Cygnes Rivers of KansasDeacon, James E.
Science
Fish Populations, Following a Drought, in the Neosho and Marais des Cygnes Rivers of Kansas
Deacon, James E.
Fish populations; Freshwater fishes -- Kansas -- Population dynamics -- Stocks
The mobility of channel catfish has been discussed by Muncy (1958) and
Funk (1957). My records show that of 36 marked channel catfish that were
recaptured, 11 were taken in areas other than the one into which they
had been returned. A pronounced mobile tendency on the part of the red
shiner and blunt-nosed minnow is shown by the fact that of 152 marked
red shiners recaptured, 73 had moved from the area of release; and of 32
marked blunt-nosed minnows recaptured, 11 had moved from the area of
release. The fact that the habitat occupied by these species is not
precise (ranging from swift riffles to quiet pools) supports a
conclusion that the species are mobile.
The fat-headed minnow, stoneroller, channel catfish (young-of-the-year),
green sunfish and long-eared sunfish form a sedentary element of the
population. With the exception of the fat-headed minnow, the sedentary
group also maintained relatively stable numbers in Areas 1, 3 and 6
throughout the study (Table 14). It is interesting to note that, in
contrast to the mobile group, the species forming the sedentary group
have rather well-defined habitat preferences.
A third group of species, represented by the red-finned shiner,
stonecat, slender-headed darter and orange-throated darter, was
characterized by having a low rate of recapture. I suspect that
mortality is a factor contributing to the failure to recapture
red-finned shiners, because in one collection only four of 31 red-finned
shiners captured were successfully marked and released, in another case
70 of 818. The red-finned shiner occurs most often in pools but is also
taken in other areas, is pelagic, and probably is a mobile species.
The stonecat, slender-headed darter and orange-throated darter are
generally restricted to riffle-habitats, and are probably sedentary. The
low number of recaptures for these three species probably is due either
to a slow rate of dispersal from the point of release or to latent
mortality resulting from shock. Table 14 shows that these three species
maintain comparatively stable populations, but there seems to be a
tendency for a reduction in numbers with continued collecting, even
though all fish captured were returned to the stream.
Golden redhorse showed a high rate of recapture. All individuals marked
were recaptured three hours after release in Areas 1 (two fish) and 3
(five fish). Nine individuals were taken from Area 4 on 11 September;
seven of these were marked and released in the next pool downstream
(Area 3). On 15 September, two fish were retaken in Area 3 and two were
retaken in Area 2, the next pool downstream. The species was common in
Area 5 also where five of eight marked individuals were recaptured two
days after release. It seems that the golden redhorse is somewhat
restricted in movement, at least for short periods.
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