Water Investigations Program SURVEY OF THE ELK RIVER ...

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Table 2. Fish species collected in the Elk River system, 2004.Number ofspecimensPercent oftotal catchSpeciesCommon namePercidaeEtheostoma blennioides greenside darter 136 0.8Etheostoma caeruleum rainbow darter 87 0.5Etheostoma camurum bluebreast darter 33 0.2Etheostoma duryi blackside snubnose darter 83 0.5Etheostoma flabellare fantail darter 11 0.1Etheostoma jessiae blueside darter 8 0.0Etheostoma nigripinne blackfin darter 10 0.1Etheostoma rufilineatum redline darter 1,320 8.0Etheostoma simoterum snubnose darter 238 1.4Etheostoma wapiti boulder darter 20 0.1Etheostoma zonale banded darter 212 1.3Perca flavescens yellow perch 11 0.1Percina caprodes logperch 305 1.8Percina evides gilt darter 94 0.6Percina sciera dusky darter 3 0.0Percina shumardi river darter 3 0.0Sander canadense sauger 1 0.0SciaenidaeAplodinotus grunniens freshwater drum 100 0.6Total 16,49914
striped bass was captured at station ER-13 in the Wheeler Lake embayment. Stripedbass are not native to the Tennessee River drainage and there is apparently no naturalreproduction in the population. The following are brief accounts of collection results foreach of the species of conservation concern that were encountered.BOULDER DARTER, Etheostoma wapiti, highest conservation concern andfederally endangered. Boulder darters were found at five stations in this study (fig. 3,app. A, B). Three of the stations were within the known range of the species in the mainchannel of the Elk River in shoals at river miles 32.5 (ER-22), 34 (ER-23), and 34.5(ER-24). The boulder darter is known from 60 river miles of the main channel of the ElkRiver from just upstream of the embayment of Wheeler Reservoir upstream to nearFayetteville, Tennessee. It historically occurred in Shoal Creek in Lauderdale County,Alabama, but that population is thought to be extirpated (Etnier and Starnes, 1993;Shute, 2004). In 1993, boulder darters were found at Fishtrap Ford (ER-22), MasonIsland (ER-21), and at a deep boulder shoal just upstream of Alabama Highway 127(Mettee and others, 2002). Collections at Mason Island did not produce the speciesduring this study and the boulder shoal near highway 127 was not sampled. Boulderdarters were uncommon at Fishtrap Ford and at river mile 34.5; however, they weremore common in a boulder shoal composed of boulder/rubble over bedrock at the baseof Winding Stair Bluff at river mile 34 (ER-23). One small (approximately 30 mm SL)juvenile was found on a gravel shoal at the head of Gallus Island (ER-18). Theindividual was presumably a waif from more suitable habitat upstream. Two adults werecollected from Shoal Creek in a boulder shoal upstream of the embayment of WheelerReservoir (SH-3). This collection represents a new tributary record for the species.Although boulder darters are associated with large stream habitats such as the mainstem of Elk River, they are also known from the downstream reaches of two other ElkRiver tributaries, Richland and Indian Creeks in Tennessee (Etnier and Starnes, 1993).Shoal Creek at station SH-3 is a small stream only about 40 feet wide. Since ShoalCreek is separated from the flowing section of Elk River by Wheeler Reservoir, it islikely that the Shoal Creek specimens represent a reproducing population. A collectionat station SH-4, several miles upstream of this shoal, failed to produce boulder15
Page 7 and 8: The majority of the Elk River water
Page 9 and 10: Table 1. Summary information on sam
Page 11 and 12: Table 1. Summary information on sam
Page 13 and 14: LAWRENCE CO.SC-7GILES CO.ELK RIVERT
Page 15: Table 2. Fish species collected in
Page 19 and 20: darters although there was suitable
Page 25 and 26: collected. The largest collection w
Page 31 and 32: BLOTCHED CHUB, Erimystax insignis,
Page 35 and 36: Although most of the collections co
Page 37 and 38: occur in large schools either in op
Page 39 and 40: Mettee, M.F., 2004a, Fishes, p. 158
Page 41 and 42: APPENDIX ACollection results for fi
Page 43 and 44: StationScientific nameCommon name E
Page 45 and 46: StationScientific name Common name
Page 47 and 48: Scientific namePercidaeEtheostoma b
Page 49 and 50: Scientific nameIctaluridaeIctalurus
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Scientific nameIctaluridaeIctalurus
Page 69 and 70:
StationScientific name Common name
Page 71 and 72:
Scientific namePercidaeEtheostoma b
Page 73 and 74:
StationScientific nameCommon name E
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Page 77 and 78:
Page 79:
GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF ALABAMAP.O. Bo
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