Records of Fishes Little-Known from Kansas
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Records of Fishes Little-Known from Kansas FRANK B. CROSS University of Kansas, Lawrence This paper presents distributional records and other notes upon 10 species of fishes which have seldom or never been reported from Kansas. Although some of these fishes have long been known to occur in the state, adequate references, citing localities represented in collections, are lacking. Most of the records listed below have been obtained during the past three years by ichthyo ogy classes at the University of Kansas or by stu- dents on State Biological Survey assignments. The specimens are deposited in the University of Kansas Museum of Natural History. For widely-distributed species which are represented by several col- lection localities are cited in terms of drainage system and county, but catalogue numbers of specimens are omitted. Exact localities and K.U. catalogue numbers are stated where records are based upon a few speci- mens taken from limited areas within the state. Characters used in the account of each species are ones which will aid in separating that species from fishes previously reported from Kansas by Cragin (1885), Graham (1885), Breukelman (1940, 1947) and others. Dionda nubila (Forbes) : Ozark minnow. Previous record: Graham (1885:73) as D. meeki. New locality: Shoal Creek, Cherokee County, Sec. 35, T. 34 S, R. 25 E (KU 2192). Characters: A minnow with pharyngeal teeth 4-4, slightly hooked; barbels absent; intestine long, much coiled in body cavity, but entirely ventral to air bladder; predorsal scales not especially crowded nor markedly smaller than those on sides; color olivaceous, silvery below, with dark punctulations along lateral line and a small, indistinct dark spot at base of caudal fin; eye moderately large, its diameter greater than one-fourth head length. Discussion: Graham (1885:73) listed Dionda meeki, a nomen nudum, from the Neosho River in Kansas. The origin of this name and the identity of its "types" with D. nubila are made clear by Jordan and Gilbert (1887:2). There can be little doubt that Graham had reference to the present species. A single specimen of the Ozark minnow was taken on April 17, 1952, from Shoal Creek. Seemingly this species, abundant in streams of the Transactions of the Kansas Academy of Science, Vol. 57, No. 4, 1954. [473] 474 The Kansas Academy of Science Ozark uplift in adjacent parts of Missouri and Oklahoma, barely enters Kansas. Probably it will not be found west of the Neosho River System. Notropis boops Gilbert: bigeye shiner. Previous record: Hubbs and Lagler (1947:66) (Kansas included in general account of range). New localities: Shoal Creek, Cherokee County, Sec. 35, T. 34 S, R. 25 E (KU 2193, 2892 and 3192); Spring River, Cherokee County, Sec. 6, T. 35 S, R. 25 E (KU 2176) ; Brush Creek, Cherokee County, 1 mile west of Riverton on U.S. Highway 66 (KU 1346). Characters: A species of Notropis with pharyngeal teeth usually 1. 4-4, 1; peritoneum black; body little compressed, nearly terete; anal rays usually 8; eyes large, their diameter not less than one-third head length; predorsal scales large, strongly outlined by melanophores; predorsal stripe indistinct; pores of lateral-line scales outlined by melanophores, and a dark band around snout, traversing lips. Discussion: The bigeye shiner has been taken several times in Shoal Creek where it is abundant. In Kansas it seems to be restricted to the limited area in Cherokee County with pronounced Ozarkian affinities. Notropis buchanani Meek: ghost shiner. Previous record: Hubbs and Lagler (1947:67) (Kansas included in general statement of range). New localities: Numerous in the Spring River System (Cherokee County), the Neosho River (Lyon County), and the Marais des Cygnes- Osage System, including the Marmaton River (Anderson, Bourbon, Franklin, Linn, Miami, and Osage counties). Characters: A species of Notropis with pharyngeal teeth 4-4; peritoneum silvery; anal rays usually 8; anterior lateral-line scales vertically enlarged, much higher than scales in rows above and below the lateral- line series; infraorbital canal absent or rudimentary; body pallid, trans- lucent in life, with a longitudinal strip above the lateral line almost devoid of pigment; caudal peduncle relatively long, 3.8-4.3 in standard length. Discussion: Despite the scarcity of references to its occurrence, the ghost shiner is common throughout much of eastern Kansas. In the Marais des Cygnes System, N. buchanani has been taken in almost every collection made in recent years. Assuming that a careful examination is made for the distinctively high scales in the literal line, this species could be confused only with N. volucella (Cope), with which buchanani occurs in tributaries of the Arkansas River in southeastern Kansas. I follow Bailey (1951:193, 222-223) in recognizing buchanani as a species dis- tinct from volucella; characters which will separate the two are included in the diagnosis above. Records of Fishes Little-Known from Kansas 475 Notropis spi/opterus (Cope) : spotfin shiner Previous records: None. New localities: Shoal Creek, Cherokee County, Sec. 35, T. 34 S, R. 25 E (KU 3186); Spring River, Cherokee County, Sec. 30, T. 34 S, R. 25 E (KU 2229); and Sec. 6 and 7, T. 35 S, R. 25 E (KU 2178). Characters: A species of Notropis with pharyngeal teeth usually 1,4-4,1; peritoneum silvery; body moderately compressed, the greatest depth 3.6 4.1 in standard length; dorsal fin originating slightly behind pelvic fins, posterior interradial membranes of dorsal fin often blackened in adults; anal rays usually 8; lateral-line scales 36-38; body without a distinct dark lateral band; caudal fin uniformly pigmented, and without a spot at base. Discussion: Among fishes with which it occurs in Kansas, the spotfin shiner most closely resembles N. camura (Jordan and Meek) and N. lutrensis (Baird and Girard). Both of these species usually have 9 anal rays. N. lutrens's has a deeper body and blunter snout than N. spiloptertts, fewer lateral line scales (34-35), and a single row of pharyn- geal teeth (4-4). Tl-e red shiner never has conspicuous black blotches restricted to the poste ior interradial membranes of the dorsal fin. N. camura is like spi/opterus in pharyngeal-tooth count, number of lateral- line scales, proportions of the body, and posterior blackening of the dorsal fin. The lattet character is better developed in camura than in spi/opterus, which may scarcely develop this feature except in large adults. In N. camura, the distinctive absence of pigment at the base of the caudal fin is sufficiently evident, even in small specimens, to facilitate separation of camura from spi/opterus where they have been found together in Kansas. The spotfin shine- seems to be confined to the Spring River System in Kansas, and is most common in Shoal Creek. In samples seined on April 11, 1954, spi/o?terus was much less abundant than camura, but more abundant than lutrensis. All three species often were taken in the same seine-haul. Schilbeodes noctu nus (Jordan and Gilbert) : freckled madtom. Previous record: Cross (1954). New localities: Neosho River in Coffey, Labette, and Lyon counties (several collections); 1 ributary of Four-Mile Creek, Sec. 36, T. 27 S, R. 2 E (Walnut River drainage), Sedgwick County; also known to occur in the Chikaskia River. Characters: A small catfish with adipose fin confluent with caudal fin; premaxillary band of teeth without backward lateral extensions; pelvic 476 The Kansas Academy of Science rays 9; lower jaw distinctly shorter than upper; serrations on pectoral spines weak; body uniformly pigmenied, not strongly mottled; vertical fins light-edged. Discussion: Although the freckled madtom occurs widely in Kansas, it is not abundant at any of the localities where it has been taken. It is found in sluggish creeks, along muddy banks or under debris, more often than in riffles in fast-flowing streams. S. nocturnus presumably is one of the "three or four species of mad toms" to which Breukelman (1947:8) referred. Gambusia affinis affinis (Baird and Girard): mosquitofish. Previous record: None. New localities: Numerous, all in the Arkansas River System, in- cluding the Spring and Neosho rivers (Cherokee and Labette counties), the Verdigris River System (Chautauqua, Wilson, and Montgomery counties), the Walnut River System (Butler and Cowley counties) and Elm Creek (Barber County). Characters: A livebearer; anal fin of male modified into a slender, rod-like intromittent organ; head with plate-like scales; fins entirely soft- rayed, anal rays 6-8. Discussion: It seems likely that the mosquitofish is not native to Kansas. This species has been introduced widely throughout the United States, and probably has been brought into Kansas on many occasions. It is now well established and often abundant in the Arkansas River System. Gambusia is adapted to live in shallow waters, where it feeds largely at the surface. The mosquitofish merits its name in that it eats many larval mosquitoes, where these are abundant; so, however, do many native fishes, and the degree of increased control of mosquitoes obtained by introduction of Gambusia is debatable, where sizeable populations of other fishes exist. Hadroplerus shumardi Girard: river darter Previous record: None. New locality: Neosho River at Chetopa, Labette County, Sec. 35 T. 34 S, R. 21 E (KU 3208). Characters: A darter with a naked strip along midline of belly, except immediately in front of anus, where usually a few little-modified scales 're present; anal spines 2; dorsal spines 10 or 11; premaxillaries protractile or, more often, with a narrow frenum which may be concealed when mouth is closed; snout bluntly rounded; cheeks and opercles scaly; eyes high on head, frog-like; color dark olivaceous, without conspicuous pattern except for indistinct dark blotches on sides which tend to be vertically elongate; spinous dorsal with an anterior and a posterior dark Records of Fishes Little-Known from Kansas 477 spot; anal fin of male enlarged, extending to base of caudal, tuberculate during breeding season.