In the Arkansas River smaller relative numbers of this shiner were obtained. At station A-2, it formed 4.68 per cent of the total. At this station N. percobromus was taken with N. lutrensis in water about 18 inches deep next to a bank where the current was sluggish and tangled roots and detritus offered some shelter.
At station G-1 on Grouse Creek the plains shiner made up 7.68 per cent of the fish taken. The habitat consisted of intermittent pools with rubble bottoms at this station, which was four miles upstream from the mouth of the creek. The plains shiner seems rarely to ascend the upland streams of the area.
Notropis rubellus (Agassiz): Stations C-3, C-5, C-6, C-7, C-8, C-10, C-11, C-12, C-13, C-14 (J&J).
No fish in these collections showed a more persistent preference than Notropis rubellus for clear, cool streams. All collections of the rosyface shiner were in the Big Caney River system, but at only four stations in this system was it common. At station C-11 the highest relative numbers (10.6 per cent) were obtained. This site possessed the most limpid water of any station on the mainstream of Big Caney. Aquatic plants (Myriophyllum heterophyllum and Potamogeton nodosus) were common. Other fishes that flourished at this station were N. boops, N. camurus, Campostoma anomalum, and Etheostoma spectabile. The water temperature was 86° at surface and 80° at bottom whereas air temperature was 97°.
N. rubellus was common at all stations in Otter Creek, the clear, upland character of which has been discussed. In May and June only adults were found. On September 1, examination of several pools in upper Otter Creek revealed numerous young-of-the-year in small spring-fed pools.
Literature is scarce concerning this shiner in Kansas. Cross (1954a:308) stated that it was abundant in the South Fork of the Cottonwood River and was one of those fishes primarily associated with the Ozarkian fauna, rather than with the fauna of the plains. Elliott (1947) found N. rubellus in Spring Creek, a tributary of Fall River which seems similar to Otter Creek in physical features. Between the Fall River and Big Caney River systems is the Elk River, from which there is no record of the rosyface shiner. Perhaps its absence is related to the intermittent condition of this stream at present. The Elk River is poor in spring-fed tributaries, which seem to be favorite environs of the rosyface shiner.
N. rubellus was taken by Minna Jewell and Frank Jobes in Silver Creek on June 30, 1925 (UMMZ 67818). The shiner was not found in any stream west of the Big Caney system in my collections.
In Oklahoma, Hall (1952:57) found N. rubellus in upland tributaries on the east side of Grand River and not in the lowland tributaries on the west side. Martin and Campbell (1953:51) characterize N. rubellus as preferring riffle channels in moderate to fast current in the Black River, Missouri. It is the only species so characterized by them which was taken in my collections. Moore and Paden (1950:84) state "Notropis rubellus is one of the most abundant fishes of the Illinois River, being found in all habitats but showing a distinct preference for fast water...."
Notropis topeka (Gilbert): Two specimens (formerly Indiana University 4605) of the Topeka shiner labeled "Winfield, Kansas" are now at the University of Michigan Museum of Zoology. Collector and other data are not given. Evermann and Fordice (1886:185) noted that two specimens of N. topeka were taken from Sand Creek near Newton in Harvey County, but do not list it from Cowley County near Winfield. They deposited their fish in the museum of Indiana University.
Notropis umbratilis (Girard): Stations G-1, G-3, G-4, G-7, G-8, G-9, G-12, G-14, B-2, B-3, C-1, C-2, C-3, C-4, C-5, C-6, C-7, C-8, C-9, C-10, C-11, C-12, C-13, C-14, C-15, C-16, E-1, E-2, E-4, E-5, M-1, M-2 (J&J, C-131, C-132).