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LIFE HISTORY OF THE GRASS PICKEREL, ESOX AMERICANUS VERMICULATUS, IN OKLAHOMA BY ARVIL D. MING OKLAHOMA FISHERY RESEARCH LABORATORY BULLETIN NUMBER 8 CONTRIBUTION No. 1 71 OF THE OKLAHOMA FISHERY RESEARCH LABORATORY, NORMAN, OKLAHOMA. FROM A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE FACULTY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF SCIENCE IN THE DEPARTMENT OF ZOOLOGY, 1968. SUPPORTED BY AN ASSISTANTSHIP AT THE OKLAHOMA FISHERY RESEARCH LAB- ORATORY FINANCED BY THE OKLAHOMA DEPARTMENT OF WILDLIFE CONSERVATION. PUBLICATION OF THIS BULLETIN WAS FINANCED BY THE OKLAHOMA DEPARTMENT OF WILDLIFE CONSERVATION. JUNE, 1968 OKLAHOMA FISHERY RESEARCH LABORATORY NORMAN, OKLAHOMA SUPPORTING AGENCIES THE OKLAHOMA DEPARTMENT OF WILDLIFE CONSERVATION AND THE UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA BIOLOGICAL SURVEY ADVISORY COMMITTEE WENDELL BEVER, DIRECTOR, OKLAHOMA DEPARTMENT OF WILDLIFE CONSERVATION GEROGE L. CROSS, PRESIDENT, UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA BUFORD L. TATUM, CHIEF, FISHERIES DIVISION, OKLAHOMA DEPARTMENT OF WILDLIFE CONSERVATION CARL D. RIGGS, DIRECTOR, UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA BIOLOGICAL SURVEY, AND DIRECTOR OF ORGANIZED RESEARCH, UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA LELAND ROBERTS, ASSISTANT CHIEF OF FISHERIES - RESEARCH, OKLAHOMA DEPARTMENT OF WILDLIFE CONSERVATION ABSTRACT A STUDY OF THE DISTRIBUTION, HABITAT, MORPHOLOGICAL CHARACTERS, ASSOICATED SPECIES, FOOD HABITS, REPRODUCTION, AGE AND GROWTH, AND PARASITES OF THE GRASS PICKEREL, ESOX AMERICANUS VERMICULATUS, WAS STUDIED IN SIX COUNTIES OF SOUTHEASTERN OKLAHOMA. GRASS PICKEREL WERE MOST ABUNDANT IN THE LITTLE RIVER SYSTEM BUT RARE I N THE KIAMICHI RIVER DRAINAGE EXCEPT FOR LAKE RAYMOND GARY. I T APPEARS THAT THE PICKEREL DISTRIBUTION WAS ONCE MORE EXTENDED AND ITS PRESENT RANGE DECREASING. THEY WERE MORE COMMONLY FOUND IN SHALLOW, WEEDY PORTIONS OF LAKES AND STREAMS, AND PREFERRED DENSE SUBMERGED AQUATIC VEGETATION AS OPPOSED TO OPEN WATER AREAS UNDER BROAD-LEAFED FLOATING AQUATICS. GRASS PICKEREL WERE RARE IN CUTOFF LAKES, FARM PONDS, AND THE OPEN FLOWING PORTIONS OF RIVERS. MORPHOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS I NDICATED THAT OKLAHOMA PICKEREL TENDED TO FOLLOW THE CHARACTERS LISTED FOR E. A. VERMICULATUS MORE CLOSELY THAN AN INTERGRADE FORM OR E. A. AMER ICANUS (REDFIN PICKEREL). GRASS PICKEREL PROGRESSED FROM A DIET OF CRUSTACEA TO INSECTS TO FISH, WITH FISH BEING THE PREDOMINANT FOOD AT LENGTHS ABOVE 80 MM. SUNFISHES WERE THE MOST OFTEN OCCURRING FISH FOOD, BUT YOUNG PICKEREL 30 TO 199 MM SELECTED DARTERS WHILE LARGER PICKEREL SHOWED A PREY SELECTION BASED ON RELATIVE ABUNDANCE. PICKEREL IN OKLAHOMA SPAWN DUPING LATE FEBRUARY OR EARLY MARCH. THEY ALSO SPAWN DURING THE WINTER. MINIMUM SIZE AT SEXUAL MATURITY WAS 118 MM FOR FEMALES; 1 09 MM FOR MALES DURING MARCH, AND THEY BECAME SEXUALLY MATURE DURING THEIR FIRST YEAR OF LIFE. MAXIMUM AGE WAS AGE-GROUP IV, WITH FEMALES BEING OLDER AND LARGER THAN MALES. LENGTH-WEIGHT DATA REVEALED THAT MALE PICKEREL OVER 210 mm LONG FROM LAKES WERE HEAVIER THAN FEMALES OF THE SAME LENGTH. STREAM PICKEREL WERE HEAVIER AT ANY GIVEN LENGTH THAN THOSE FROM LAKES. TWO SPECIES OF TREMATODES WERE FOUND I N PICKEREL STOMACHS, BUT THEIR OCCURRENCE WAS CONFINED TO FISH FROM THE LITTLE RIVER DRAINAGE. ACKNOWLEDGMENT THE OKLAHOMA DEPARTMENT OF WILDLIFE CONSERVATION PROVIDED THE FINANCIAL AID AND EQUIPMENT WHICH ENABLED ME TO COMPLETE THIS STUDY. VALUABLE ASSISTANCE WAS PROVIDED BY VICTOR W. LAMBOU, CHARLES R. GASAWAY, MICHAEL G. BROSS AND ALL MEMBERS OF THE OKLAHOMA FISHERY RESEARCH LABORATORY. GRATEFUL ACKNOWLEDGMENT IS GIVEN TO DR. CARL D. RIGGS FOR HIS ENCOURAGEMENT, ADVICE, AND PATIENCE IN THE PREPARATION OF THIS THESIS. DRS. GEORGE A. MOORE AND LOREN G. HILL AIDED IN THE IDENTIFICATION OF FISHES COLLECTED IN THIS STUDY AND OFFERED MANY SUGGESTIONS IN THE PRESENTATION OF MATERIAL. DRS. CHARLES C. CARPENTER AND GEORGE J. GOODMAN REVIEWED THE MANUSCRIPT. DR. JOHN S. MACKIEWICZ CARRIED OUT THE PARASITE EXAMINATIONS. THE FIELD WORK COULD NOT HAVE BEEN COMPLETED WITHOUT THE ASSISTANCE OF MSSRS. JOHN D. PEER, DAVID L. PRITCHARD, CHARLES A. TABER, AND ANTHONY A. ECHELLE. • TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I . I NTRODUCTION ................................................... DESCRIPTION OF THE STUDY AREA ......................... 1 II. MATERIALS AND METHODS ........................................ 6 III. DISTRIBUTION ................................................... 8 I V. HABITAT ........................................................... 1 2 AQUATIC VEGATATION ........................................ 1 4 HABITS ........................................................ 1 7 V. MORPHOLOGICAL CHARACTERS ................................... 1 7 SUBSPECIES RELATIONSHIPS OF GRASS PICKEREL ........ 1 9 VI. ASSOCIATED SPECIES ........................................... 20 VII. FOOD HABITS ..................................................... 24 COMPARISON OF FOOD HABITS OF PICKEREL FROM LAKES WITH THOSE FROM STREAMS ................................... 28 FISH AS FOOD ................................................ 29 COMPARISON OF FISH DIET OF PICKEREL FROM LAKES WITH THOSE FROM STREAMS ................................ 30 SIZE RELATIONSHIP OF PICKEREL TO FISH PREY 32 PREDATOR-PREY RELATIONSHIPS I N GRASS PICKEREL FROM STREAMS ............................................. 33 VIII. REPRODUCTION ................................................... 37 FALL AND WINTER SPAWN ................................... 37 SEX RATIOS ................................................... 40 I X. AGE AND GROWTH ................................................ 43 BODY-SCALE RELATIONSHIP ................................ 46 GROWTH ........................................................ 48 LENGTH-WEIGHT RELATIONSHIPS ........................... 55 X. PARASITES ........................................................ 58 XI. SUMMARY ........................................................... 62 LITERATURE CITED ........................................................ 65 LIFE HISTORY OF THE GRASS PICKEREL, ESOX AMER ICANUS VERMICULATUS, IN OKLAHOMA CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION I N OKLAHOMA THE GRASS PICKEREL, Esox AMERICANUS VERMICULATUS LESUEUR, I S CONFINED TO THE SIX SOUTHEASTERN COUNTIES. CROSSMAN (1962 AND 1966) TABULATED THE NORTH AMERICAN DISTRIBUTION OF THE SPECIES AND ALSO LISTED A COMPLETE SYNONYMY. OKLAHOMA REPRESENTS THE WESTERN EDGE OF THE DISTRIBUTION, EXCEPT FOR A RELICT POPULATION IN NEBRASKA. ALTHOUGH SEVERAL TAXONOMIC AND LIFE HISTORY STUDIES OF GRASS PICKEREL HAVE BEEN PUBLISHED FOR THE NORTHERN PORTION OF THE RANGE, LITTLE IS KNOWN ABOUT THIS FISH IN • THE SOUTH, AND THE SPECIES HAS NOT BEEN STUDIED IN OKLAHOMA. THE PURPOSE OF THIS STUDY WAS TO OBTAIN INFORMATION ON THE ABUNDANCE, DISTRIBUTION, HABITAT, FOOD HABITS, GROWTH, AND GENERAL POPULATION STRUCTURE OF THE GRASS PICKEREL IN OKLAHOMA. FIELD DATA WERE COLLECTED FROM JUNE TO SEPTEMBER, 1963; JULY, AUGUST, NOVEMBER, DECEMBER, 1965; AND MARCH, MAY, JUNE, 1966. COLLECTIONS WERE MADE THROUGHOUT SOUTH- EASTERN OKLAHOMA. DESCRIPTION OF THE STUDY AREA THE PORTION OF SOUTHEASTERN OKLAHOMA IN WHICH THIS SURVEY WAS CONDUCTED IS BOUNDED ON THE SOUTH BY RED RIVER, ON THE NORTH BY THE ARKANSAS AND CANADIAN RIVERS, AND ON THE WEST BY WESTERN BORDERS OF CHOCTAW, PUSHMATAHA, AND LATIMER COUNTIES. THE ARKANSAS STATE LINE FORMS THE EASTERN BORDER (FIGURE I). THE MAJOR STREAMS IN THIS AREA ARE AS FOLLOWS: RED RIVER AND TRIBUTARIES ARKANSAS RIVER AND TRIBUTARIES I. MAIN STEM FROM ARKANSAS I. POTEAU RIVER STATE LINE TO MOUTH OF KIAMICHI RIVER 2. MAIN STEM FROM ARKANSAS STATE LINE TO MOUTH OF 2. LITTLE RIVER CANADIAN RIVER 3. MOUNTAIN FORK RIVER 3. FOURCHE MALINE CREEK 4. GLOVER RIVER 4. SANS Bois CREEK 5. KIAMICHI RIVER • TOWNS A MANMADE LAKES SAMPLED CI CUTOFF LAKES SAMPLED IN OUACHITA MOUNTAINS 10 0 10 SCALE IN MILES FIGURE I . MAP OF AREA OF SOUTHEASTERN OKLAHOMA SAMPLED DURING THIS STUDY. I NSERT MAP INDICATES PORTION OF STATE REPRESENTED BY THE FIGURE. 2 THE MAJORITY OF MCCURTAIN, PUSHMATAHA, LATIMER, AND LEFLORE COUNTIES CONSIST OF HEAVILY WOODED OAK—PINE FOREST. THE SOUTHERN PORTION OF MCCuRTAIN COUNTY GRADES INTO OAK—HICKORY FOREST WITH A SMALL AREA OF LOBLOLLY PINE FOREST NEAR THE ARKANSAS BORDER. THE RED RIVER MEANDERS THROUGH BOTT0MLAND FLOOD PLAIN AS DOES THE KlAmIcHl, PoTEAu, AND ARKANSAS RIVERS. THE LOWER PORTION OF LITTLE RIVER AND MOUNTAIN FORK RIVER FLOWS THROUGH CYPRESS FOREST. CUTOFF LAKES (I.E., OXBOW LAKES FORMED BY A CHANGE IN THE COURSE OF THE RIVER) ARE COMMON IN THE FLOODPLA INS OF ALL THESE RIVERS. POSTOAK- BLACKJACK FOREST IS FOUND IN THE SOUTHERN PORTION OF CHOCTAW COUNTY AND THE NORTHERN AREAS OF LEFLORE AND LATIMER COUNTIES. THE OUACHITA AND KIAMIGHI MOUNTAINS EXTEND THROUGHOUT THE AREA EXCEPT FOR THE BOTTOMLAND FLOOD PLAIN OF THE ARKANSAS, POTEAU, AND RED RIVERS ( FIGURE I). HoNEss ( 1 923) DESCRIBED THE OUACHITA MOUNTAINS IN THE FOLLOWING MANNER: THE PATTERN OF THE STREAMS IN THIS AREA ARE A COMBINATION OF THE TRELLIS AND DENDRITIC TYPES OF DRAINAGE SUPERIMPOSED UPON A GENERAL EAST—WEST FOLDED STRUCTURE, AND THE REGION I s CHARACTER- I ZED BY IRREGULARLY SHARED HILLS AND MOUNTAINS, AND SHORT, HIGH, NARROW, NEARLY PARALLEL RIDGES. THE SLOPES ARE STEER, RUGGED, AND COVERED WITH COARSE FLOAT. OUTCROPPING LEDGES OF HARD SAND- STONE AND FLINT APPEAR AT FREQUENT INTERVALS CHIEFLY ALONG THE CRESTS AND AROUND THE ENDS OF THE MOUNTAINS (IN THE WATER GAPS). THE RAVINES AND GULLIES ARE SHARPLY V—SHAPED, ROCK—RIBBED, AND CHOKED WITH DEBRIS. THE HILLS AND MOUNTAINS RANGE IN ELEVATION FROM 750 TO 1,250

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