Fishes of Randolph County, Arkansas Steve M
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Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science Volume 31 Article 8 1977 Fishes of Randolph County, Arkansas Steve M. Bounds Arkansas State University John K. Beadles Arkansas State University Billy M. Johnson Arkansas State University Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarworks.uark.edu/jaas Part of the Aquaculture and Fisheries Commons, and the Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology Commons Recommended Citation Bounds, Steve M.; Beadles, John K.; and Johnson, Billy M. (1977) "Fishes of Randolph County, Arkansas," Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science: Vol. 31 , Article 8. Available at: http://scholarworks.uark.edu/jaas/vol31/iss1/8 This article is available for use under the Creative Commons license: Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-ND 4.0). Users are able to read, download, copy, print, distribute, search, link to the full texts of these articles, or use them for any other lawful purpose, without asking prior permission from the publisher or the author. This Article is brought to you for free and open access by ScholarWorks@UARK. It has been accepted for inclusion in Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science by an authorized editor of ScholarWorks@UARK. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. ! Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science, Vol. 31 [1977], Art. 8 Fishes ofRandolph County, Arkansas STEVE M. BOUNDS,' JOHN K.BEADLESand BILLYM.JOHNSON Divisionof Biological Sciences, Arkansas State University I State University, Arkansas 72467 ! ABSTRACT Asurvey of the fishes of Randolph County in northcentral Arkansas was made between June 1973 and March 1977. Field collections, literature records, and museum specimens re- n vealed the ichthyofauna of Randolph County to be composed of 128 species distributed among 24 families. Cyprinidae was the largest family,being represented by 34 species while Percidae was represented by 24 species. ! Randolph County is composed of Ozark Uplands and Coastal Plain areas. All of the stream systems flow into the Black River system with the exception of VillageCreek in the southeastern corner of the county which flows into White River. The major streams in the : county are Black, Current, Eleven Point, Fourche, and Spring Rivers, and Jane's Creek. : INTRODUCTION ients, particularly in their upper reaches, and runoffis rapid. i Randolph Couny lies whollywithin the White River basin. Allex- During the past decade Randolph County, Arkansas has expe- cept a small southeastern portion of the county is drained by the rienced a population growth of more than 100%, particularly in the Black River and its tributaries. VillageCreek arises in the southeast- Ozark region. This has resulted in changes inland use which subse- ern corner of the county and flows directly into the White River quently cause changes in the river and stream systems. Forests have (Lamonds, Hines. and Plebuch, 1969). been cleared resulting in altered temperature and runoff cycles, tur- Current River flows along the eastern boundary of the county for bidity, and siltation rates. Much of the natural vegetation has been 63 km before it joins the Black River 6.4 km east of Pocahontas. As replaced byrow crops and pasture. The increase in the use of agricul- the river enters the county, it leaves the Ozark escarpment to become ture chemicals, pesticides, and fertilizers has contributed to changes a meandering lowland stream but maintains its rapid clear flow. The within the aquatic environments. river is almost continuous pools separated by a few short riffles. In In1962, Randolph County was designated as eligible to receive as- the upper portion of the county the substrate is composed of gravel sistance under the Area Redevelopment Act. A product of this was while the lower portionis composed entirely of sand and mud. the Fourche Creek Watershed Project. Floodwater-retarding struc- Jane's Creek is a clear, spring-fed, Ozark stream that arises in the tures were to be constructed in the upland streams while the lowland northwestern corner of the county, near the Missouri line, and flows streams were to be channeled foragricultural drainage. As of Febru- into Spring River near Ravenden, Arkansas, approximately 40 km ary, 1977. fivefloodwater-retarding structures and all channelization below its origin. The substrate in the pools varies from solid rock in had been completed. the upper reaches to fine gravel and sand at Spring River. The riffle The purpose of this study was to report the fish species within the substrate is composed of coarse gravel and chert. The mean stream county before further environmental alterations are made. gradient was calculated to be 2.8 m/km. Spring River forms the southwestern boundary of county. Itflows southeastward through the Ozarks before entering the Coastal Plain. METHODS It maintains a clear moderate flow for 5 more km before it enters the Black River at Black Rock. Arkansas. Most of the collections were taken by seines ranging in size from The Eleven Point and Fourche Rivers drain the largest portion of = 1.2 x 3.0 m (bar measure mesh 3.2 mm) to 1.8 x 15.2 m (bar the county. The Eleven Point enters the western portion of the measure mesh =6.4 mm). Gillnets with a mesh of 37 mm to 76 mm county from Missouri, flows rapidly through the Ozarks for 50 km, were used as were various hook and line methods. Museum speci- and empties into the Spring River near Black Rock, Arkansas. mens collected by Green ( 1973) and Fowler (1972) were examined. Fourche enters the eastern portion of the county from Missouri, Collected fish were fixed in 10% formalin for three days, washed, flows slowly through the Ozarks before entering the Coastal Plain, and stored in40% isopropanol. and empties into the Black River at Pocahontas, Arkansas. Classification was accomplished with the keys of Pflieger (1968), The Black River enters the county 9km south of Biggers, Arkan- Moore (1968). Miller and Robison (1973), and Pflieger (1975). sas, flows westward to Pocahontas, turns southwestward and flows Nomenclature is in accordance with Bailey, et al. (1970) withthe ex- along the Fall Line separating the Interior Highlands and Coastal ceptions of Nolropis chrvsncephalus. Nolropis emiliae, and Lepomis Plain, and leaves the county at Black Rock, Arkansas. gulosus. Two small creeks, Little Running Water and BigRunning Water, drain the southeastern portion of the county that is not drained by DESCRIPTION OF AREA Village Creek. These creeks are deltaic and were extensively chan- neled, consequently, they tend to become dry during the hot summer Randolph County is located in northeast-northcentral Arkansas months. between Oregon County, Missouri, to the north, and Lawrence Randolph County has an average annual temperature of 15° C. Jan- County. Arkansas, to the south. It covers an area of 1650 km'. The uary is usually the coldest month withan average temperature of3.5° elevation ranges from 76 m in the southeastern section to nearly 305 C. The average annual precipitation is 121 cm. Rainfall is usually m in the northwestern section (Harper. 1972). plentiful and well distributed over the county throughout the year The county is divided into two distinct physiographic regions, the (Hawkins. 1976). Coastal Plain and the Interior Highlands. The Coastal Plain is charac- terized by nearly flat topography. Because of the flat terrain the A OF THE FISHES OF streams are sluggish and runoff is slow. The Highlands is CHECK-LIST Interior RANDOLPH COUNTY,ARKANSAS characterized by hillydissected uplands. Streams have steep grad- Petromyzontidae (Lampreys) "Present address: Dept. Science. Crowley's Ridge College, Para- gould, Ark.72450. Ichthyomyzon caxtaneus Girard. Chestnut lamprey. Academy Proceedings, XXXI, Arkansas of Science Vol. 1977 21 Published by Arkansas Academy of Science, 1977 21 1 Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science, Vol. 31 [1977], Art. 8 Steve M.Bounds, John K. Beadles and BillyM. Johnson Ichthyomyzon gagei Hubbs and Trautman. Southern brook lamprey. Notropis whipplei(Girard). Steelcolor shiner. Lampetra aepyptera (Abbott). Least brook lamprey. Notropis zonatus (Putman). Bleeding shiner. Acipenseridae (Sturgeons) Opsopoeodus emiliae Hay. Pugnose minnow. Scaphirhynchus platorynchus (Rafinesque). Shovelnose sturgeon. Phoxinus erythrogaster (Rafinesque). Southern redbelly dace Polyodontidae (Paddlefishes) Pimephales notatus (Rafinesque). Bluntnose minnow. Polyodon spathula (Walbaum). Paddlefish. Pimephales tenellus (Girard).Slim minnow. Lepisosteidae (Gars) Pimephales vigilax(Bairdand Girard). Bullhead minnow. Lepisosteus oculatus (Winchell).Spotted gar. Semotilus atromaculalus (Mitchill).Creek chub. Lepisosteus osseus (Linnaeus). Longnose gar. Catostomidae (Suckers) Lepisosteus platostomus Rafinesque. Shortnose gar. Carpiodes carpio (Rafinesque). River carpsucker. Lepisosteus spatula Lacepede. Alligatorgar. Carpiodes cyprinus (Lesueur). Quillback. Amiidae (Bowfins) Carpiodes velifer(Rafinesque). Highfin carpsucker. Amia calva Linnaeus. Bowfin. Catostomus commersoni (Lacepede). White sucker. Anguillidae(Eels) Cycleptus elongatus (Lesueur). Blue sucker. Anguillarostrata (Lesueur). American eel. Erimyzon oblongus (Mitchill).Creek chubsucker. Clupeidae (Herrings) Hypentelium nigricans (Lesueur). Northern hog sucker. Alosa chrysochloris (Rafinesque). Skipjack herring. Ictiobus bubalus (Rafinesque). Smallmouth buffalo. Dorosoma cepedianum (Lesueur). Gizzad shad. Ictiobus cyprinellus (Valenciennes). Bigmouth buffalo. Hiodontidae (Mooneyes) Ictiobus niger (Rafinesque). Black buffalo.