Fishes in the Kiamichi River, Oklahoma

12\ FISHES OF THE KIAMICHI RIVER, OKLAHOMA Jimmie 1"199 and Loren G. Hill Moore High School, Moore, Oklahoma, and Department of Zoology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma A description of the Kiamichi River S)'SIeID and a brief history of icbth)'OIoP:al collecting within this drainage introduce an anoocaud checklla of 98 fish species with ranuks on the disuibutioo and probable abundance of each species. A IIOca1 of 141 collections included 16 families and 88 species, of which 15 were new records for species of the Kiamichi River drainlBe. KIAMICHI RIVER SYSTEMS ous mountain ridges of broadly folded Mississippian and Pennsylvanian sandstones The source of the Kiamichi River is in towering above subparallel shale the Kiamichi and Ouachita mountain valleys. The lower drainage, which in the Di.. ranges of southeastern LeFlore County, lies sected Coastal Plains Province and is com· Oklahoma. It drains approximately 1,830 posed of soft, south-dipping Cretaceous square miles, and flows in a westerly direc· sands, gravels, and clays of the Gulf Coastal tion into Pushmataha County near the town Plain, is slightly dissected by streams. of Clayton and then south by southeast through Choctaw County to its confluence The principle vegetative types are oak· with the Red River. pine forest along the upper watershed and oak.hickory in the lower. In the lower The Kiamichi River Basin is crescent drainage, there is a small section of tall· shaped, 110 miles long, and varies in width grass prairie and a large area of postoak. from 5 to 30 miles. The stream flows blackjack forest near the mouth of the river. through a succession of widely contrasting reaches, alternating from comparatively In order to survey the distribution of wide valleys to Steep gorges having banks each species, the drainage was divided into 80 to 90 ft in height. The river has a large three major sections: the headwaters, mid· number of tributaries; the major ones are dIe river, and lower river. The headwaters Jackfork, Buck, Tenmile, Buffalo, Cedar, mnsist of the drainage from the lOUl'ce east Gates, Anderson, and Pine creeks. The of Big Cedar to the town of Tuskahoma. gradient varies from 1.5 ft/mile near the This section and its tributaries are com· Pushmataha-Choctaw County line to more posed of clear, fast·flowing water with than 100 ft.'mile near the source. The major large sandstone rocks, sand, and gravel. part of the stream has an average gradient Many small falls and riffles with small, to 2.5 ft/mile. The southern section of the shallow pools between riffles are allO pres basin lies in the dissected Gulf Coastal Plain ent. Most tributaries in this area are small region, where the river meanders along a and flow only during rainy seuons. The wide alluvial valley at an elevation of 425 ft, middle section of the river, which begins with gradient of 0.8 ft/mile. A combination at Tuskahoma and mntinues east of Anden, of trellis and dendritic types of drainage is charaCterized by loog deep pools with patterns characterize the Kiamichi River short riffles between the pools. The river and its tributaries. Stream flow of the bemmes progressively turbid below Clay. Kiamichi River is fairly uniform, and mo· ton, and is usually muddy below Anden. sists of a series of pools and shoals during The flow is more sluggish here and bottom low rainfall. Floodin~ in the lower reaches substrate is fine gravel, silt, or mud. Within of the river is caused usually by prolonged the river, dead trees and brush are common. stOrmS (2-6 days) of moderate to heavy The tributaries 00 the west side of the rainfall. Springs are mmmon throughout river are lonlf, large, and slow.moving, with the drainage. dense aquatic Ye~tion. The subttrace is mainly clay or fine sediments. Tributaries The Kiamichi River basin is situated on the east side are Iow-order streamJ which within two maior geomorphic provioc.es. are short in length, dear, and futflowing, The Ouachita-Mountain Provioc:e of the with la,. rock and gtaYeI substrata. The headwater region consists of long and sinu· river below Antlen to the mouth at tbe Proc. 0Ida. AaIcI. Sci. 54: 121·130 (1974) 122 Red River has been daipated as the lowe1' boma reservoirs, and 84 mllections were -smear. This area is characterized by a made from tributary streams entering the series of deep pools and sluggish flow. In main river from its headwaters to its mo area where lock .trata are uplifted, riffles fluence with the Red River. In addition, exist. Dead trees and log drifts are common. 6 collections from swamps, ponds, and Tributaries entering this segment of the river-backwaters in the drainage were in Kiamicbi are .luggish, with long pools and cluded in the study. Collections were made few riffles. Substrates are composed of clay by various methods: gill nets, minnow and fine sediments. Most of these tributaries seines, and electrofisbing. Most collections support dense populations of aquatic plants. from the lower, deep-water areas were made with gill nets, while in tributaries and ICHTHYOLOGICAL COLLECTIONS shallow-water areas electrofisbing and min· now seines were used. All specimens were This study reviews investigations of the placed in 10% formalin, washed, trans fish fauna of the Kiamicbi River system in ferred to alcohol, and catalogued into the Oklahoma. Collections which provide data University of Oklahoma Museum of for this paper were made by the authors Zoology. during 1972-1973, and included 141 sampl ing stations (Fig. 1). Data from collections Seth Meek (1) made the first known by G. A. Moore, C. D. Riggs, A. I. Orten fish collections from the Kiamichi River burger, H. L. Lindsay, R. J. Miller, O. Ming, drainage in 1894. He collected at Walnut P. Wade, M. Power, J. M. Paden, G. E. Creek near the town of Albion and at Flat Hall, A. D. Linder, L V. Smith, A. Houser, Creek near Goodland, which is DOrth of and H. McCarley were also included. In Hugo. Meek collected 36 species of fishes addition, museum collections at the Univer during his visit to the Kiamichi drainage. sity of Oklahoma, Oklahoma State Univer In 1925 and 1927, the University of Okla sity, Southeastern State College, and the homa Biological Survey conducted two Natural History Museum of New York surveys, led by Dr. A. I. Ortenburger, in were examined. which a total of 21 species was collected in the headwaters near Tuskahoma and 17 species were recordod from that site (2). In 1927, Hubbs and Ortenburger reported 19 species from 13 localities west of the Arkansas state line (3). During the 1930's several other collections were made by M. Powers during surveys by the Oklahoma Biological Survey. Dr. G. A. Moore made many collections in Gates Creek and the Kiamicbi River during the period from 1940 to 1965. Many other collections were made by W. A. Carter and J. M. Paden in the 1940'5. During the 1950's, C. D. Riggs, A. P. Blair, G. E. Hall, A. D. Linder, and H. W. McCarley added collections of fishes from the drainage, mostly from tributaries. In 1963, a number of collections were made by H. Lindsay and L Bates for the Biologi FIGua& 1. The Kiamichi RiYa' clraiaa,p system. cal Survey at the University of Oklahoma. Co11ectiq sires 11ft iodicated by dosed-citdes. O. Ming made a few collections of fishes from the area between 1962 and 1966. Re Collections during 1972-1973 were the cent collections were added by L V. Smith last to be made before completion of the and J. Pigg in 1967, R. J. Miller in 1969 Huao Resenoir and subsequent inundation ~ 1970, and F. W. Wade and J. Pigg of ri~ne habitats. For this analysis, 23 In 1971. The collection by L V. Smith in collections were made within the river 1967 is located in the New York Natural system above and below the Hugo Dam, 28 History Museum. mllectioos were made from the area CO be inundated by Hugo, CaytOn, and Tuska- In the following list of species of the 123 Kiamichi River drainage. the number of lower river and tributaries. This re sampliD8 stations at which a species oc presents the fim record of this species curred and the number of specimens 001 in the Kiamichi River. 1ected by the authon are indicated in Parenthesis. Dates uncIersmred indicate AMlIDAE. Bowfin times of known collections not reported 6. A"';" &tIlflll Linnaeus. Bowfin (3-5). in the literature. Pive specimens were collected by the authon during 1971-72. No other ANNOTATED CHECKLIST known records of this species in the Kiamichi River system have been re PETROMYZONTIDAE. lampreys ported. The bowfin was collected in 1. l&hlh,om,zotl gllgd Hubbs and Traut the sluggish-flowing lower tributaries man. Southern brook lamprey (1-1). of the river's flood plain over muddy One specimen of this species was 001 substrates. Each area was characterized lected near Scanley by the authon. G. by dense scands of dead trees and A. Moore, M. B. Trautman, and 1\1. R. aquatic vegetation. Rare in the drain Curd collected the fim specimen in age system. Gates Creek near Fort Towson in 1950. CLUPEIDAE. Herrings A. P. Blair collected an ammoc:oete of questionable identity from the Kia 7. Aws. &b,.,so&hloNs (Rafinesque). micbi River near Big Cedar in 1953 Skipjack herring (2-10). Collected in (4). Rare in drainage. gill nets in the lower regions of the river, with some occurring in mid-river POLYODONTIDAE. Paddlefisbes areas near Antlen. Common ooly near 2.

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