Related project  RESEARCH    

Stream bioassessment by the examination of fish communities                                                  ►See Overview

Fish communities were sampled in seven streams that had been sampled for water quality and aquatic insects as part of the TWP:  from the two forested streams (Birdsong and Jones creeks), the four agricultural streams (Grants Branch, Pine Hill, Prairie and Rice Branch) and one urban stream (Mill Creek, downstream of the point source sample site, PS-2, the Lafayette city wastewater treatment plant). Fish were collected in each stream by sampling a 100-meter stream segment using a backpack shocker (Karr 1981; Angermeir and Karr 1986; O’Neil and Shepard 1998). Fish were identified, weighed and measured and the data will be used to calculate an Index of Biotic Integrity (IBI) score for each stream.  This score will indicate stream health when compared to a relatively undisturbed reference stream.

Some of the fish species  found in small streams of

the Tallapoosa River Basin: 

1-Alabama Hogsucker

2-Mottled Sculpin,

3-Blacktail Shiner

4-Black Madtom,

5-Tallapoosa Darter

A total of 1,489 fish representing 7 families and 30 species were collected. 

Dominant species included: 

Largescale stoneroller (Campostoma oligolepis);

Tallapoosa shiner (Cyprinella gibbsi);

Mottled sculpin (Cottus bairdii);

Creek chub (Semotilus atromaculatus);

Tallapoosa darter (Etheostoma tallapoosae);

Bluegill sunfish (Lepomis macrochirus);

Alabama hogsucker (Hypentelium etowanum); and

Bluehead chub (Nocomis leptocephalus);

Dominant species accounted for about 84 % of the fish sampled.  Highest diversity (number of species) of fish was sampled in the agricultural stream A-1, Grants Branch, which had 19 different fish species (table below). Lowest diversity was found in the urban stream, Mill Creek (sampled directly downstream of the outfall of Lafayette wastewater treatment plant), which had only 4 species.  The other five streams had species numbers between 12-15. The average number of species by land use type was 14 for forested streams, 14.8 for agricultural streams, and 4 for the urban stream.

The most frequently occurring species were the Tallapoosa Darter (Etheostoma tallapoosae) and the Alabama Hogsucker (Hypentelium etowanum), which occurred in all seven streams.  Three other species, the Largescale Stoneroller (Campostoma oligolepis), the Mottled Sculpin (Cottus bairdii) and the Bluehead Chub (Nocomis leptocephalus) were found in all streams except for the urban stream, Mill Creek.  Based on abundance over all seven streams, the Largescale Stoneroller (Campostoma oligolepis) was the most abundant fish species.

Abundance of fish species expressed as percent of total abundance sampled from seven streams in the Middle and Upper Tallapoosa basins in November-December 2005.

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Web site designed and developed by Omar Romagnoli,

Department of Fisheries and Allied Aquacultures, Auburn University