Produced by Chris Curnow, Joseph Cooper and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS PUBLICATIONS MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY Volume 13, No. 6, pp. 309-322, 1 fig. February 10, 1961 Fishes of the Wakarusa River in Kansas BY JAMES E. DEACON AND ARTIE L. METCALF (Contribution from The State Biological Survey, and from the Department of Zoology of The University of Kansas) UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS LAWRENCE 1961 UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS PUBLICATIONS, MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY Editors: E. Raymond Hall, Chairman, Henry S. Fitch, Robert W. Wilson Vol. 13, No. 6, pp. 309-322, 1 fig. Published February 10, 1961 UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS Lawrence, Kansas PRINTED IN THE STATE PRINTING PLANT TOPEKA, KANSAS 1961 28-5872 Fishes of the Wakarusa River in Kansas BY JAMES E. DEACON AND ARTIE L. METCALF (Contribution from The State Biological Survey, and The Department of Zoology of The University of Kansas) _Introduction_ The Wakarusa River rises in the eastern edge of the Flint Hills and flows approximately 50 miles in an easterly direction and empties into the Kansas River near Eudora; with its tributaries, the Wakarusa drains 458 square miles in parts of Wabaunsee, Shawnee, Osage, and Douglas counties of northeastern Kansas (Fig. 1). The average gradient is 6.3 feet per mile. Turbidity is consistently more than 100 ppm in the lower portions of the mainstream and major tributaries, but is usually lower in the upper portions of tributaries. The channel of the mainstream is intrenched in its own alluvium (Dufford, 1958:36) and has high, muddy banks and mud- or sand-bottom; the upper parts of tributaries have lower banks and bottoms of gravel, rubble, or bedrock, although a few (such as Cole Creek) have areas of sandy bottom. A fringe forest of deciduous trees occurs along most streams. The topography and geology of the area have been discussed by Todd (1911), Franzen and Leonard (1943), and Dufford (1958). The five-year period prior to 1957 was the driest in the 70-year history of weather-records in Kansas (Metzler _et al._, 1958). Streams throughout the Wakarusa Basin suffered intermittency and, according to Mr. Melvon H. Wertzberger, the local Work Unit Conservationist with the Soil Conservation Service, many of them dried completely or contained only a few widely-scattered, stagnant pools. The effect of the drought on stream-flow at the mainstream gaging station 2.1 miles south of Lawrence is presented in Table 1. According to the Division of Sanitation, Kansas State Board of Health, no untreated domestic sewage or industrial waste is discharged into the Wakarusa River System at this time.