RECENT COLLECTIONS OF SOME LESS COMMON FISHES IN SOUTHERN ILLINOIS

By

GERALD E. GUNNING AND WILLIAM M. LEWIS Southern Illinois University, Carbondale Illinois Academy OF Science Transactions, Vol. 48, 1956

RECENT COLLECTIONS OF SOME LESS COMMON FISHES IN SOUTHERN ILLINOIS GERALD E. GUNNING AND WILLIAM M. LEWIS Sonthern Illinois University, Carbondale

INTRODUCTION Swamp and along the adjacent The fishes discussed in this paper bluffs. In southern Illinois as a occurred in collections made within whole the species is rare, but in the the past 5 years in 38 localities in Pine Hills area it is relatively abunZ the 16 southernmost counties of Illi- dant. It is difficult to collect the nois. The localities that yielded spring cave-fish during the day fishes of interest here are shown in since the majority of the population Figure 1 ; these localities include retires to subterranean waters at streams, lakes, springs, strip-mine this time. However, the species is ponds, and swamps. A wide range active in the springs at night, at of habitats is thus represented. The which time it is easily collected. scope of this paper is limited to the Brown bullhead, Ameiurus nebn- following characteristics of a given losus marmoratus (Holbrook). — species : geographical range ; numeri- The speckled variety of the brown cal abundance in southern ; bullhead ranges from southern Illi- and distribution within Illinois as nois and eastern Arkansas to the a whole. Carolinas and Florida (Hubbs and Collecting devices included an Lap.:ler, 1949: 72). In the present electro-fishing apparatus, a 1/4-inch- study the brown bullhead was found knot seine, a common sense minnow in only two localities, Wolf Lake seine, wire basket traps, and hand and Pine Hills Swamp. dipnets. In addition one sample Brook silverside, Labidesthes sic- was taken by poisoning with emulsi- culus sicculus (Cope).—The brook fied rotenone. silverside ranges from Minnesota The authors wish to express their eastward through southern Ontario appreciation to Darrell Louder, and southward to the Gulf of Mexi- Charles Peters, and Ronald Newton co (Eddy and Surber, 1947: 245). for assistance in the field and labora- The species was collected from Wolf tory. This study was aided by Lake, Clear Creek, Fulton Creek, grants from the Graduate School of and Horseshoe Lake during our Southern Illinois University and study. All of these collections con- from the Division of Fisheries, Illi- stitute new records which are felt nois Department of Conservation. to be significant in that Forbes and Richardson (1920) and O'Donnell DISCUSSION OF INDIVIDUAL SPECIES (1935) did not collect the species Spring cave-fish, Chologaster pa- in this area. pilliferus Forbes.—The spring cave- Lake chubsucker, Erimyzon sucet- fish was collected from the Pine Hills ta kennerlii (Girard).—The lake [ 23 ] 9 4 Illinois Academy of Science Transactions

• P■NCKN•Y VILLE POSIT STRIP MINE POND

BID KINKAID CREEK

• HARRISBUR6 WORTHEN BAYOU • CARBONDALE

BIG MUDDY RIVER SUGAR CREEK

PINE HILLS SWAMP

WOLF LAKE 8141 CROOK ROSicLARE

CLEAR CREEK

ROARING SPRINGS CREEK

BROWNVILLE CREEK

FVLTON CREEK

HORSESHOE LAKE

CAIRO

1.—Localities where collections were made. chubsucker is absent from all of the formerly abundant in Horseshoe larger natural and artificial lakes Lake (Thompson and Bennett, 1938) of southern Illinois. The species but has since disappeared (Gunning, has been collected from only one lo- 1953). cality, a strip-mine pond on the Smallmouth bass, Microptcrus Pyatt area south of Pinckneyville. (1010 mien dolomieu Lacepede.—The Rock bass, Ambloptites rupestris smallmouth bass is common in north- rupestris (Rafinesque ) .—The rock ern Illinois but rare in southern Illi- bass is rare in southern Illinois but nois. Big Creek near Rosiclare is rather abundant in northern Illinois. the only locality in southern Illinois An established population of rock known to have smallmouth bass. bass is present in Big Creek near Small sunfish, Lepomis symmetri- Rosiclare. ens (Forbes).—In Illinois the small Round sunfish (flier), Centro).- sunfish is found chiefly in the south- chus macropterus Lacepede.—The ern portion of the state, especially round sunfish ranges from Virginia in the Wabash Valley (Richardson, south to Florida, west to Louisiana 1904). We collected this species and east Texas, and north in the from Wolf Lake and Pine Hills Mississippi Valley to southern Illi- Swamp. nois (Knapp, 1953: 116). Barnickol Pigmy sunfish, Elassoma zonatirm and Starrett (1951) reported the Jordan.—The occurrence of the pig- round sunfish for the Mississippi my sunfish in southern Illinois was River. Our collections came from noted by Jordan and Evermann Pine Hills Swamp and Brownville (1896: 982). Jordan and Ever- Creek near Thebes. The species was mann (1896: 981) listed the pigmy Less Common Fishes, Southern Illinois 95 sunfish under the family Elasso- southern part of the state, but recent midae ; Berg (1947: 309) placed the collections do not indicate such pigmy sunfish in the family Cen- abundance. trarchidae. Our collections of the Spot-tailed darter, pigmy sunfish came from Pine Hills squaw jeeps (Jordan). — The spot Swamp and one of its spring-fed tailed darter is a southern species tributaries. which ranges into southern Illinois. Silverjaw minnow, Ericymba buc- 1 n the present study the spot-tailed eata Cope. This species was found darter was taken from Roaring to be one of our rarer minnows in Springs Creek near Anna and from southern Illinois. It is known at the Big Creek drainage. present only from Big Kinkaid Stripe-tailed darter, Etheostoma Creek near Ava. Icennicotti ( Putnam).—The stripe- Suckermouth minnow, Phenacobi- tailed darter, a southern species, was »tirabilis ((lirard).—The sucker- collected only from the Big Creek mouth minnow was collected in Big drainage. Identifications of the spot- Muddy River and one of its major tailed and stripe-tailed darters were t ributaries, Big Kinkaid Creek. made by Dr. Reeve M. Bailey, Mu- Burbot, Lota iota .maculosa (Le- seum of Zoology, University of Stteur). — The burbot is rare in Michigan. southern Illinois and is represented Swamp darter, in the present study by a single spec- ( Girard).—The swamp darter was imen from Big Muddy River which collected from Pine Hills Swamp, constitutes a new record for that Sugar Creek, and Worthen Bayou. locality. It is not abundant in any of these Sanger, Stizostedion canadense localities. The species was treated canadense (Smith).—The sauger has by Forbes and Richardson (1920: been reported previously from the 315-316) as Boleichthys .fusiformis Mississippi, Illinois, Rock, Wabash, ( Girard) and as Etheostoma iouve Kaskaskia, and Ohio rivers (O'Don- Jordan and Meek (Forbes and Rich- nell, 1935: 490). Two saugers were ardson, 1920: 306-307). This com- collected by us from Big Muddy plex was worked out in detail by River. Hubbs and Cannon (1935). Walleye, Stizostedion vitreum vi- t ream (Mitchill) .—Our collection of thscussmx yellow pikeperch in Big Muddy Allee and Schmidt (1951: 147) River is a new record for this lo- defined "range" as the area inhab- cality. ited by a species. They stated fur- Bluntnose darter, Boleosoma ther that "the range of an ehlorosantum (Hay). — The blunt- is delimited by the lines connecting nose darter was collected in two lo- the outermost localities at which it calities in southern Illinois, Big is found. A species need not oc- Muddy River and one of its tribu- cupy the whole extent of its range ; taries, Worthen Bayou. O'Donnell for the most part it will be found (1935) reported the bluntnose dart- only in special habitats that fulfill er as being very abundant in the specific conditions." In this paper 26 Illinois Academy of Science Transactions is recorded the status of 18 fishes BERG, LEO S. 1947. Classification of fishes both recent and fossil. Ann uncommon in the southern Illinois Arbor, J. W. Edwards, 517 pp. area, with comments as to their abun- EDDY. SAMUEL. and THADDEUS SURBER. dance within this area. 1947. Northern fishes—with special reference to the Upper Mississippi Southernmost Illinois is well with- Valley. Minneapolis, Univ. Minn. in the ranges of ten of the species Press, 276 pp. considered. These species are : FORBES, STEPHEN A., and ROBERT E. RICH- brown bullhead, brook silverside, ARDSON. 1920. The fishes of Illinois. Springfield, Ill., State Printers, 357 pp. lake chubsucker, rock bass, small- GUNNING, GERALD E. 1953. The fishes of mouth bass, silverjaw minnow, suck- Horseshoe Lake, Illinois. M. S. Thesis, ermouth minnow, bluntnose darter, Southern Ill. Univ. Library, 37 pp. sauger, and walleye. Nevertheless, HVBBS, CARL L., and Morr DWIGHT CANNON. 1935. The darters of the none of these species are at all genera Hololepis and Villora. Misc. abundant in this immediate area. Publ., Mus. Zool., Univ. Mich., No. 30, Among the remaining eight species, 86 pp...... , ..and KARL F. LAGLER. southern Illinois is the approximate 1949. Fishes of the Great Lakes re- northern limit of the range of six. gion. Bloomfield Hills, Cranbrook These southern species are the round Press, 186 pp. JORDAN, DAVID S., and BARTON W. EVER- sunfish, small sunfish, pigmy sunfish, MANN. 1896. The fishes of North and spot-tailed darter, stripe-tailed dart- Middle America. U. S. Nat. Mus. Bull. er, and swamp darter. None of these 47, pt. 1, 1240 pp. species is abundant. The area is the KNAPP, FRANK T. 1953. Fishes found in the fresh waters of Texas. Bruns- approximate southern limit of the wick, Ga., Ragland Studio and Litho- range of the burbot, a northern spe- Printing Co., 166 pp. cies; the burbot is very rare. O'Doxxia.i., D. JOHN. 1935. Annotated list of the fishes of Illinois. Ill. Nat. Hist. Surv. Bull. 20 (5) : 473-500. LITERATURE CITED RICHARDSON, R. E. 1904. A review of ALLEE, W. C., and KARL P. Scitmurr. the sunfishes of the current genera 1951. Ecological animal geography. Apomotis. Lepomis, and Eupomotis, , John Wiley and Sons, with particular reference to the spe- 715 pp. cies found in Illinois. Ill. Nat. Hist. BARNICKOL. PAUL G., and WILLIAM C. Surv. Bull. 7 (3) : 27-35. STARRETT. 1951. Commercial and sport THOMPSON, DAVID, and GEORGE W. BEN- fishes of the between NETT. 1938. Lake management re- Caruthersville, , and Dubuque, ports. 1. Horseshoe Lake near Cairo, Iowa. Bull. Ill. Nat. Hist. Surv., 25 Illinois. Ill. Nat. Hist. Surv. Biol. (5) : 257-350. Notes, 3:1-6.