Fishes of Chautauqua, Cowley and Elk Counties, KansasMetcalf, Artie L.
Science
Fishes of Chautauqua, Cowley and Elk Counties, Kansas
Metcalf, Artie L.
Fishes -- Kansas
In this area, _N. girardi_ showed no tendency to ascend tributaries of
the Arkansas River. Not far to the west, however, this pattern changes
as shown by Hubbs and Ortenburger (1929a:32) who took this fish at seven
of ten stations on the Cimarron, Canadian, and Salt Fork of the
Arkansas. _N. girardi_ was taken only in the lowermost stations on both
Stillwater Creek (Cross, 1950:136) and the Chikaskia River (Moore and
Buck, 1953:22). In the next major stream west of the Chikaskia, the
Medicine River, _N. girardi_ seems to occur farther upstream than in the
Chikaskia. (Collection C-5-51 by Dr. A. B. Leonard and Dr. Frank B.
Cross on Elm Creek near Medicine Lodge on July 20, 1951.)
#Notropis lutrensis# (Baird and Girard): Stations A-1, A-2, W-1, W-2,
W-3, W-4, G-1, G-2, G-4, G-5, G-8, G-9, G-10, G-11, G-12, G-13, G-14,
G-15, G-16, B-1, B-2, B-3, C-1, C-2, C-3, C-4, C-5, C-6, C-9, C-10,
C-11, C-12, C-13, C-14, M-1, E-1, E-2, E-4, E-7 (E&F, C-131, C-133,
C-136).
The red shiner was taken in every stream surveyed. The relative
abundance seemed to be greatest in two types of habitat which were
separated geographically. The first habitat was in large rivers such as
the Arkansas and Walnut. In the Arkansas River the red shiner
consistently made up 20 per cent to 25 per cent of the catch. On the
Walnut River percentages ranged from 10 per cent (station W-3) to 45 per
cent (station W-2).
The second habitat in which numbers of _N. lutrensis_ reached high
proportions was in the upper parts of the most intermittent tributaries.
At the uppermost station in Silver Creek this species formed 30 per cent
of the fish taken. In Crab Creek the following percentages were taken in
six collections from mouth to source: 20.6%, 26.1%, 25%, 85%, 14.6%, and
1%. In the mainstream of Grouse Creek the highest percentage taken was
19.27 near the mouth at station G-1. In middle sections of Grouse Creek
this species was either absent or made up less than 2 per cent of the
fish taken.
At no station on Big Caney River was the red shiner abundant. The
smallest relative numbers were found at upstream stations, in contrast
to collections made on tributaries of Grouse Creek. This distributional
pattern possibly may be explained by the severe conditions under which
fish have been forced to live in the upper tributaries of Grouse Creek.
Water was more turbid, and pools were smaller than in Big Caney. These
factors possibly decimate numbers of the less hardy species permitting
expansion by more adaptable species, among which seems to be _N.
lutrensis_. In the upper tributaries of Big Caney River conditions have
not been so severe due to greater flow from springs and less cultivation
of the watershed in most places. Under such conditions _N. lutrensis_
seems to remain a minor faunal constituent.
#Notropis percobromus# (Cope): Stations A-1, A-2, W-1, W-2, W-3, G-1.
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