Distribution of Fishes in Thirty-Two Mile Creek, Nebraska

Authors

Steven R. Walker, University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Date of this Version

1980

Comments

1980. Transactions of the Nebraska Academy of Sciences, VIII:91-98. Copyright © 1980 Walker

Abstract

Thirty-two Mile Creek drains a 276 km² area in south central Nebraska as a tributary to the Little Blue River. Fishes were collected during the summer of 1977 using a seine. Nine species were collected at the 16 stations sampled.

The fathead minnow (Pimephales promelas) was the most abundant species and present at every station. Black bullhead (lctalurus melas), carp (Cyprinus carpio), and red shiner (Notropis lutrensis) were widespread while other species had limited distributions. Species diversity was determined for each station and stream order. Fish distribution and abundance in the drainage were affected by a recent dam and other environmental factors.

Measurements of physical parameters such as water temperature, depth, current velocity, substrate composition, turbidity, and abundance of cover provided insights for analysis of species' habitat requirements.