American Currents Publication of the North American Native Fishes Association Volume 31 Number 4 Fall (Nov.) 2005 Special Issue: Annotated Checklist of North American Freshwater Fishes, Including Subspecies and Undescribed Forms Part I: Petromyzontidae (Lampreys) Acipenseridae (Sturgeons) Polyodontidae (Paddlefishes) Lepisosteidae (Gars) Amiidae (Bowfins) Hiodontidae (Mooneyes) Notopteridae (Featherfin Knifefishes) Anguillidae (Freshwater Eels) Engraulidae (Anchovies) Clupeidae (Herrings and Shads) Cyprinidae (Carps and Minnows) The North American Native Fishes Association est. 1972 • John Bondhus, founder Mission: The North American Native Fishes Association (NANFA) is dedicated to the appreciation, study and conservation of the continent’s native fishes. NANFA is a not-for-profit, tax-exempt corporation chartered in the State of Maryland. The purposes of the organization are: • to increase and disseminate knowledge about native North American fishes; • to promote practical programs for their conservation and the protection/restoration of their natural habitats; • to advance the educational, scientific and conservation benefits of captive maintenance and husbandry; • to encourage the legal, environmentally responsible collection of native fishes for private aquaria as a valid use of a natural resource; and • to provide a forum for fellowship and camaraderie among its members. Rob Denkhaus, Education Grant Chair MI: Leo S. Long Board of Directors Fort Worth Nature Center & Refuge (see address under Board) Jan Jeffrey Hoover 9601 Fossil Ridge Rd. Secretary/Board Chair Fort Worth, Texas 76135 MN: Jenny Kruckenberg Librarian, AC Back Issues 817-237-1111 1354 Courthouse Blvd. Inver Grove Hts., Minnesota 55077-3309 Waterways Experiment Station ER-A [email protected] 3909 Halls Ferry Road 651-457-2302 Vicksburg, Mississippi 39180-6199 Bob Muller, Chair, [email protected] Breeders Award Program 601-634-3996 MS: Jan Jeffrey Hoover 625 S. Altadena [email protected] (see address under Board) Royal Oak, MI 48067 Leo S. Long, Vice President 248-398-0195 NY (eastern): Norman Soule 2629 Sparta Dr. [email protected] P.O. Box 535 Troy, Michigan 48083 Cold Spring Harbor, NY 11724-0535 248-689-8375 Peter Unmack, Web Technologies 516-692-8731 Host and Email List Administrator [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] Christopher Scharpf, AC Editor & NY (central/western): Scott Schlueter Membership Coordinator Stephanie Scharpf, Treasurer U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 1107 Argonne Drive (see Scharpf address under Board) 1776 Niagara Street Baltimore, Maryland 21218 Nick Zarlinga, Website Contact Buffalo, New York 14207 410-243-9050 [email protected] 716-879-4325 [email protected] [email protected] Dustin W. Smith OH: Todd Crail 104 Lockwood Drive Regional Representatives (see address under Member Services) Lexington, South Carolina 29072 Charles A. Nunziata, coordinator 803-808-0258 SC: Dustin W. Smith AL: Bruce Stallsmith (see address under Board) [email protected] (see address under Board) TN: Casper Cox Bruce Stallsmith, President AZ-NV: Peter Unmack Conservation Grant Chair 1200 B. Dodds Ave. P.O. Box 1454 Chattanooga, Tennessee 37404-4754 8200 Hickory Hill Lane Tempe, Arizona 85280-1454 Huntsville, Alabama 35802 423-624-0721 480-965-8352 [email protected] 256-882-2231 [email protected] [email protected] TX: Rob Denkhaus FL (central): Charles A. Nunziata (see address under Member Services) Jeremy Tiemann 6530 Burning Tree Drive Illinois Natural History Survey Largo, Florida 33777 VA: Michael Thennet 607 E. Peabody Drive 727-393-3757 5419 Galley Ct. Champaign, Illinois 61820 [email protected] Fairfax, Virginia 22032 217-244-4594 [email protected] [email protected] GA: Steven A. Ellis 2400 Barrett Creek Blvd., Apt 1116 703-425-5046 Tom Watson Marietta, Georgia 30066 WI: Ray Wolff Aquarium Society Liaison 678-581-7548 6510 Helke Road 2408 S. 359th Street [email protected] Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin 54494 Federal Way, Washington 98003 715-424-0259 IL-IN: Ryan DePauw 253-838-6745 [email protected] [email protected] Spring Brook Nature Center 130 Forest Ave. Itasca, Illinois 60143 Member Services 630-773-5572 NANFA Fellows [email protected] John Bondhus Todd Crail MA: Rick Rego Gerald C. Corcoran (deceased) Website Content Administrator Casper Cox 2153 Timbercreek Dr., Apt. E 109 McArthur Road Swansea, Massachusetts 02777 Ray Katula Toledo, Ohio 43615 Christopher Scharpf 419-539-6810 508-678-8306 [email protected] [email protected] MD: Robert Bock COVER: Nocomis leptocephalus 1602 Tilton Drive leptocephalus, bluehead chub. Silver Spring, Maryland 20902 Photo © William Roston. [email protected] Fall (Nov.) 2005 American Currents 1 Annotated Checklist of North American Freshwater Fishes, Including Subspecies and Undescribed Forms Part I: Petromyzontidae Through Cyprinidae Christopher Scharpf 1107 Argonne Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218, [email protected] orth America has the most diverse temperate fresh- American Fisheries Society’s (AFS) standard-bearing check- water fish fauna in the world. Approximately 9% of list of common and scientific names (Nelson at al., 2004, the world’s freshwater fish species are indigenous to herein referred to as the AFS list). From a conservation and N North America (percentage calculated from num- management perspective, there is clearly a need to list sub- bers given in Lundberg et al., 2002), with at least 1,081 species, particularly those that receive state and/or federal named and valid species. Previous attempts to list every North protection, in any checklist that intends to provide an unam- American freshwater fish in one checklist are either out of biguous and useful inventory of a region’s fish diversity. date (Mayden et al., 1992a; TNHC, 1998), or do not include 2) In addition to governments, many ichthyologists, subspecies and undescribed forms (e.g, Nelson et al., 2004). anglers, aquarium hobbyists, and amateur naturalists routinely Every systematist and taxonomist would agree that the refer to subspecies. For example, most scientific and popular proper management and conservation of our natural heritage guides include both redfin pickerel, Esox americanus americanus, requires accurate information on the number of taxa and their and grass pickerel, E. a. vermiculatus, but the latter is not listed identification. The objective of this checklist is to provide a in the AFS list (though mentioned in the comment section). comprehensive and centralized nomenclatural inventory of Considering the widespread usage of trinomials in both pop- North America’s freshwater fish diversity, including sub- ular and scientific publications (e.g., Boschung and Mayden, species and undescribed forms, using the most up-to-date 2004; Page and Burr, 1991; Schleser, 1998; Sternberg, information available. 1996), the absence of E. a. vermiculatus from the AFS list potentially confounds rather than clarifies communication. The Inclusion of Subspecies and Undescribed Forms 3) Many nominal subspecies, formerly placed in synonymy, are being reevaluated in light of the Evolutionary and Although some taxonomists decry the subspecies desig- Phylogenetic Species Concepts and the molecular demonstra- nation as “unobservable and undefinable” (Rosen, 1979) and tion of deep divergence among many fish species. This trend “confusing” (Froese, 1999), or consider the category as is reflected in the 2004 edition of Hubbs and Lagler, which “indicative of a potential need for further taxonomic evalua- retained many of Hubbs’ nominal subspecies from earlier tion” (Warren et al., 2000), the inclusion of subspecies in this editions in anticipation of their being recognized as full checklist is warranted for three reasons: species in the future (G. R. Smith, pers. comm.). Likewise, 1) Subspecies are recognized by the U.S. Endangered many well-established subspecies, such as Gulf sturgeon, Species Act (ESA) and Canada’s Species at Risk Act Acipenser oxyrinchus desotoi, may be recognized as full species (SARA). Currently, 30 fish “subspecies” are afforded legal at a later date. The growing reevaluation of subspecies further protection by the American and Canadian governments.1 Ye t warrants their inclusion in any checklist that aims to compre- the names of most of these fishes are absent from the hensively inventory North America’s fish diversity. 1 ESA: Acipenser oxyrinchus desotoi, Crenichthys baileyi baileyi, Crenichthys baileyi (3 ESUs), Oncorhynchus mykiss irideus (7 ESUs), Oncorhynchus mykiss whitei, grandis, Cyprinodon nevadensis armagosae, Cyprinodon nevadensis pectoralis, Rhinichthys osculus lethoporus, Rhinichthys osculus nevadensis, Rhinichthys osculus Gasterosteus aculeatus williamsoni, Gila robusta jordani, Lepidomeda mollispinis oligoporus, Rhinichthys osculus thermalis, Rhinichthys osculus ssp. (Foskett speckled pratensis, Notropis simus pecosensis, Oncorhynchus clarkii henshawi, Oncorhynchus dace), Siphateles bicolor mohavensis, Siphateles bicolor snyderi, Siphateles bicolor ssp. clarkii selenris, Oncorhynchus clarkii stomias, Oncorhynchus clarkii ssp. (Humboldt (Hutton Spring tui chub). SARA: Cottus bairdii hubbsi (full species on the AFS cutthroat trout), Oncorhynchus clarkii ssp. (Whitehorse basin cutthroat trout), list), Rhinichthys cataractae ssp. (Nooksack dace), Salvelinus fontinalis timagamiensis. Oncorhynchus gilae gilae, Oncorhynchus gilae apache, Oncorhynchus mykiss gairdneri