The highfin carpsucker was not taken in my survey. Meek (1895:135) reported "this small sucker [C. velifer] ... common in Blue River at Crete," characterizing the specimens as having "Dorsal rays, 24 to 30; scales in the lateral-line, 36 to 41; head 3¾ to 4; and depth 2½ to 3." The ranges in the number of dorsal rays and the number of scales in the lateral-line are higher than usual in C. velifer, or in C. c. carpio, which is now common in the Big Blue River Basin. Both species normally have 33 to 37 lateral-line scales and 27 or fewer dorsal rays (Bailey, 1956:352-353; Moore, 1957:79; and Trautman, 1957:81-82). The other characters listed by Meek would fit the young and some adults of either species, or possibly a composite including C. forbesi.
Graham (1885:72) and Cragin (1885:107) reported Ictiobus velifer (= Carpiodes velifer) from "Eureka Lake," Riley County, Kansas. This lake, which no longer exists, was in the Kansas River Valley, about ten miles upstream from the mouth of the Big Blue River. Other, more recent records from the Kansas River Basin, in the vicinity of the Big Blue River, are: Maple Leaf Lake, Riley Co., Oct. 4, 1925; Deep Creek, Riley Co., no date; Wildcat Creek, Riley Co., Sept. 7, 1923; and Wildcat Creek, Riley Co., Sept. 29, 1925 (UMMZ 122187-90). Most of the collections were made by Minna E. Jewell (Nelson, personal communication).
Moxostoma aureolum (LeSueur), northern redhorse: Cragin (1885:108) as Moxostoma macrolepidotum LeSueur; Meek (1895:136) as Moxostoma macrolepidotum duquesnei (LeSueur); Evermann and Cox (1896:394-395); and Jennings (1942:364) as Moxostoma erythrurum (Rafinesque). Stations 41-S, 43-S, 44-S, and 53-S.
I collected three northern redhorse from the Big Blue River Basin, and another specimen was seined in the mouth of Mill Creek, Riley County (my present Station 9-G) by the Kansas State College class in fisheries management in 1954 (KSC 5068). I reidentify as M. aureolum the two specimens recorded by Jennings (loc. cit.) as M. erythrurum.
The subspecific status of M. aureolum in the Kansas River Basin is to be the subject of another paper.
Catostomus commersonnii (Lacépède), white sucker: Canfield and Wiebe (1931:8) as "common suckers"; and Breukelman (1940:380). Stations 7-G, 11-G, 12-G, 13-G, 16-G, 18-G, 19-G, 23-G, 29-G, 31-G, 53-S, 57-M, and 58-G.
The white sucker occurred primarily in upland streams of the Flint Hills, with one occurrence in muddy habitat, and one in the main stream of the Big Blue River. Young C. commersonnii were often taken in riffles, but adults were in the larger, deeper pools. The ages and total lengths at the last annulus for 12 white suckers were: I, 2.8 (4); II, 3.9 (6); III, 8.2 (1); and IV, 9.2 (1).
Cyprinus carpio Linnaeus, carp: Canfield and Wiebe (1931:5-8, 10) as "carp." Stations 1-S, 2-S, 3-S, 4-S, 6-S, 7-G, 8-S, 15-S, 16-G, 18-G, 23-G, 24-G, 25-S, 27-G, 30-M, 35-M, 38-S, 41-S, 42-S, 43-S, 44-S, 45-M, 52-S, 53-S, and 56-S.
Carp occurred throughout the basin. The habitat of this species closely approximated that of the river carpsucker; however, carp were more often taken in moderate to swift water than were C. c. carpio.
The ages and average lengths at the last annulus for 40 carp from the Big Blue River Basin were: I, 2.3 (4); II, 4.7 (10); III, 7.0 (10); IV, 9.0 (3); V, 11.3 (4); VI, 18.6 (1); VII, 18.9 (3); VIII, no fish; IX, 20.6 (3); X, 19.1 (2); XI, 21.1 (1); XII, 22.0 (1); and XIII, 24.1 (2).