EAST-WEST DISTRIBUTION
In the Arkansas River system in Kansas there are marked differences between fish faunas of the western and eastern parts of the state. This can be illustrated by comparison of Spring River in Cherokee County with the Cimarron River in southwestern Kansas. Single collections from Spring River or its tributaries usually contain 25 or more species of fish. Collections from the Cimarron rarely contain more than five or six species. Many of those fishes found in Spring River are characteristic of an Ozarkian fauna, and some are endemic to the Ozark uplands. Fish found in the Cimarron or Arkansas in western Kansas are members of a plains fauna of wide distribution. There is mingling of these two faunal groups across the state, with the number of Ozarkian species diminishing westward, and certain plains species diminishing eastward. A number of species such as Moxostoma duquesnii and Notropis spilopterus are limited, on the basis of present records, to Spring River and its tributaries in Kansas. Others have not been taken west of the Neosho drainage. The Verdigris River provides the next major avenue of westward dispersal followed by Caney River, Grouse Creek, and the Walnut River. West of the Walnut River system Ozarkian species have been almost always absent from collections. The Chikaskia River is somewhat exceptional. Moore and Buck (1953) reported from this river several species that seem more typical of eastern faunal associations. Table 10 indicates the stream system in which the present westernmost records are located for a number of fishes found in the Arkansas River system in Kansas.
Table 10.—Present Westernmost Records of Some Fishes in the Arkansas River Basin in Kansas.
Spring River
Cottus carolinae
Dionda nubila
Etheostoma blennioides
Etheostoma gracile
Etheostoma nigrum nigrum
Etheostoma punctulatum
Etheostoma saxatile
Hypentelium nigricans
Moxostoma duquesnii
Notropis spilopterus
Noturus exilis
Neosho River
Cycleptus elongatus
Etheostoma chlorosomum
Etheostoma flabellare lineolatum
Hybopsis amblops
Hybopsis biguttata
Hybopsis x-punctata
Notropis zonatus pilsbryi
Verdigris River
Etheostoma whipplii
Etheostoma zonale arcansanum
Percina copelandi
Moxostoma carinatum
Notropis boops
Notropis volucellus
Noturus miurus