Fish Populations, Following a Drought, in the Neosho and Marais des Cygnes Rivers of Kansas Part 2

#Ictiobus cyprinella# (Valenciennes)

Big-mouthed Buffalo

Big-mouthed buffalo were found in quiet water at all stations, but were rare. A ripe female, 21.5 inches long, was taken at the lower station on the Neosho on 16 June, 1959.

#Ictiobus niger# (Rafinesque)

Black Buffalo

and

#Ictiobus bubalus# (Rafinesque)

Small-mouthed Buffalo

Black buffalo were not taken at the upper station on the Neosho and were rare at other stations. Small-mouthed buffalo were taken at all stations and were common in the lower portions of the two streams. While the shocker was being used, buffalo were often seen only momentarily, thereby making specific identification impossible; both species were frequently taken together, and for this reason are discussed as a unit.

Both species maintained about the same level of abundance throughout my study.

The two species were taken most often in the deeper, swifter currents of the mainstream, but were sometimes found in pools, creek-mouths and backwaters. On several occasions in the summer of 1959, buffalo were seen in shallow parts of long, rubble riffles, with the dorsal or caudal fins protruding above the surface. Ernest Craig, game protector, said buffalo on such riffles formerly provided much sport for gig-fishermen.

He stated that the best catches were made at night because the fish were less "spooky" then than in daytime. In my collections made by use of the shocker, buffalo were taken more frequently at night (Table 9, p. 402).

On 19 June, 1959, I saw many buffalo that seemed to be feeding as they moved slowly upstream along the bottom of a riffle. The two species, often side by side, were readily distinguishable underwater.

Small-mouthed buffalo appeared to be paler (slate gray) and more compressed than the darker black buffalo. To test the reliability of underwater identifications, I identified all individuals prior to collection with a gig. Correct identification was made of all fish collected on 19 June. The smallest individual obtained in this manner was 18.5 inches T. L. On 26 August, 1959, 16 small-mouthed buffalo were captured and many more were seen while the shocker was in use in the same riffle for one hour and ten minutes. One small-mouthed buffalo was caught while the shocker was being used in the pool below that riffle for one hour and fifty minutes. No black buffalo were taken on 26 August.

Sp.a.w.ning by buffalo was not observed but probably occurred in spring; all mature fish in my earliest collections (mid-June of each year) were spent. Small-mouthed buffalo reach maturity at approximately 14 inches T. L.

#Carpiodes carpio carpio# (Rafinesque)

River Carpsucker

River carpsucker were abundant throughout the study at all stations.

Adults were taken most frequently in quiet water, but depth and bottom-type varied. The greatest concentrations occurred in mouths of creeks during times of high water; occasionally, large numbers were taken in a shallow backwater near the head of a riffle at the middle Neosho station. River carpsucker feed on the bottom but seem partly pelagic in habit. They were taken readily by means of the shocker and gill nets at all depths. The population of _C. carpio_ in the Neosho River probably was depleted by drought, although many individuals survived in the larger pools.

When stream-flow was restored, carpsucker probably moved rapidly upstream but had a scattered distribution in 1957. Trautman (1957:239) states that in the Scioto River, Ohio, river carpsucker moved upstream in May and downstream in late August and early September. Numbers found at the middle and lower Neosho stations suggest similar movements in the Neosho River in 1957. In midsummer they were common at the middle station but rare at the lower station; however, they became abundant at the lower station in November. The abundance in late fall at the lower Neosho station might have resulted either from downstream migration or from continued upstream movement into thinly populated areas. No indication of seasonal movement was found in 1958 or 1959.

River carpsucker reach maturity at approximately 11 inches T. L., and sp.a.w.ning occurs in May or June. A ripe male was taken from a gravel-bottomed riffle, three feet deep, at the middle station on the Neosho station on 10 June 1959.

The size-distribution of individuals taken at the middle Neosho station is presented in Fig. 2. The collection in early July of 1958 indicates that one size-group (probably the 1957 year-cla.s.s) had a median length of approximately seven inches. The modal length of this group was nine inches in June, 1959. A second, predominant size-group (Fig. 2) seemed to maintain almost the same median size throughout all the collection periods, although specimens taken in the spring of 1959 were slightly smaller than those obtained in 1958. This apparent stability in size may have been due to an influx of the faster-growing individuals from a smaller size-group, coupled with mortality of most individuals more than 14 inches in length.

Young-of-the-year were taken at every station. Extensive seining along a gravel bar at the lower Neosho station indicated that the young are highly selective for quiet, shallow water with mud bottom. In these areas, young-of-the-year carpsucker were often the most abundant fish.

River carpsucker were collected more readily by use of the shocker after dark than in daylight (Table 9, p. 402).

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 2. Length-frequency of river carpsucker in the Neosho River, 1958 and 1959.]

#Carpiodes velifer# (Rafinesque)

High-finned Carpsucker

A specimen of _Carpiodes velifer_ taken at the lower station on the Neosho in 1958 provided the only record of the species in Kansas since 1924. Many specimens, now in the University of Kansas Museum of Natural History, were taken from the Neosho River system by personnel of the State Biological Survey prior to 1912. The species has declined greatly in abundance in the past 50 years.

#Moxostoma aureolum pisolabrum# Trautman

Short-headed Redhorse

The short-headed redhorse occurred at all stations. It was common at the middle and lower stations on the Neosho, rare at the upper station on the Neosho, abundant at the upper station on the Marais des Cygnes in 1957, and rare thereafter at all stations on the Marais des Cygnes.

Short-headed redhorse typically occur in riffles, most commonly at the uppermost end where the water flows swiftly and is about two feet deep.

An unusually large concentration was seen on 13 June, 1959, in shallow (six inches), fast water over gravel bottom at the middle station on the Neosho River.

Thirty-nine individuals were marked by clipping fins at the middle Neosho station in 1959. Four were recovered from one to 48 days later: two at the site of original capture (one 48 days after marking), one less than one-half mile downstream, and one about one mile downstream from the original site of capture.

At the middle Neosho station in 1958, this species was taken more readily by use of the shocker at night than by day (Table 9, p. 402).

#Moxostoma erythrurum# (Rafinesque)

Golden Redhorse

The golden redhorse was abundant at the upper Neosho station, rare at the middle Neosho station, and did not occur in collections at other stations. This species was taken most frequently over gravel- or rubble-bottoms in small pools below riffles, and was especially susceptible to collection by means of the shocker.

Twenty-nine golden redhorse of the 1957 year-cla.s.s, taken at the upper Neosho station on 9 September 1958, were 6.2 to 8.6 inches in total length (average 7.4 inches); 26 individuals of the same year-cla.s.s caught on 21 August 1959 were 9.3 to 13.5 inches in total length (average 10.9 inches).

#Cyprinus carpio# Linnaeus

Carp

The carp decreased in abundance from 1957 to 1959 at the upper and middle Marais des Cygnes station and at the middle and lower Neosho stations. Carp were more abundant in the Marais des Cygnes than in the Neosho, although the largest number in any single collection was found in one pool at the upper Neosho station in 1958.

Carp were taken most commonly in quiet water near brush or other cover.

At the middle Neosho station, collecting was most effective between the hours of 6:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. and least effective between 12:30 p.m.

and 6:30 p.m. (Table 9, p. 402). Ripe males were taken as early as 19 April (16.1 inches, 19.4 inches T. L.) and as late as 30 July (16 inches T. L.) at the middle Neosho station. Ripe females were taken as early as 19 April at the middle Neosho station (19.2 inches T. L.) and as late as 7 July at the lower Neosho station (16 inches T. L.).

Young-of-the-year were taken first at the middle Marais des Cygnes on 8 July 1957. They were recorded on later dates at the upper Marais des Cygnes and at the lower and middle Neosho stations.

#Notemigonus crysoleucas# (Mitchill)

Golden s.h.i.+ner

The golden s.h.i.+ner was taken rarely at the upper Marais des Cygnes station in 1958 and 1959 and at the middle Marais des Cygnes station in 1957 and 1958. At the middle Neosho station _Notemigonus_ was seined from a pond that is flooded frequently by the river, but never was taken in the mainstream.

#Semotilus atromaculatus# (Mitchill)