Fishes of the Big Blue River Basin, Kansas

by W. L. Minckley

Notropis deliciosus (Girard), sand shiner: Meek (1895:136); Evermann and Cox (1896:402), both as Notropis blennius (Girard); and Jennings (1942:365) as Notropis deliciosus missuriensis (Cope). All stations excepting 1-S, 10-G, 12-G, 17-G, 20-G, 21-G, 22-G, 24-G, 29-G, 30-M, 31-G, 32-G, 33-M, 35-M, 51-M, 55-M, 57-M, 58-G, and 59-G.

Nelson (personal communication) has studied the sand shiner in Kansas, and has found that the Big Blue River is an area of intergradation between the southwestern subspecies (deliciosus) and the plains subspecies (missuriensis). Notropis d. deliciosus prefers cool, rocky habitat, and occurs in small streams of the Flint Hills, whereas N. d. missuriensis occupies the sandy, turbid Big Blue and Little Blue rivers. Intergrades occur most frequently in the Big Blue River, but are found in all habitats.

Notropis topeka (Gilbert), Topeka shiner: Meek (1895:136); Evermann and Cox (1896:403); and Minckley and Cross (in press). Stations 10-G, 11-G, 12-G, 19-G, 31-G, and 32-G.

This species was common locally in the upland streams. Female Topeka shiners stripped easily at Station 11-G on July 8, 1958, and adult N. topeka in high breeding condition were collected at Station 31-G on July 14, 1958. The water temperature at both stations was 77.5° F. Evermann and Cox (1896:403-404) recorded female Topeka shiners "nearly ripe" on June 29, 1893.

Notropis buchanani Meek, ghost shiner. Stations 3-S and 4-S. Only two specimens of N. buchanani were taken, both on August 14, 1957. These specimens (KU 3833), a female with well-developed ova, and a tuberculate male, were near a sandbar in the main channel. To my knowledge, this is the first published record of the ghost shiner from the Kansas River Basin. Mr. James Booth, State Biological Survey, collected N. buchanani from two stations on Mill Creek, Wabaunsee County, Kansas, 1953.

Hybognathus nuchalis Agassiz, silvery minnow. Stations 2-S, 3-S, 4-S, 7-G, 8-S, and 16-G.

This species was taken sporadically, but sometimes abundantly, in the Big Blue River. At Stations 7-G and 16-G a few young-of-the-year were found.

Bailey (1956:333) does not consider the southwestern Hybognathus placita (Girard) specifically distinct from the northeastern H. nuchalis, but little evidence of intergradation has been published. In [Table 2], I have compared measurements and counts of 50 specimens of Hybognathus from the Big Blue River, 50 H. n. placita from the Walnut River, Kansas (Arkansas River Basin), and 50 H. n. nuchalis from Wisconsin. Measurements and counts were made by methods described by Hubbs and Lagler (1947:8-15) and measurements are expressed as thousandths of standard length.

Table 2. Comparisons of Three Series of Hybognathus, 50 Specimens Each, from Different Stream Systems. Symbols: X̅ = Mean; σ = One Standard Deviation; and 2 σ_m = Two Standard Errors. Ranges are in Parentheses. Standard Lengths of Specimens are: Walnut River, Kansas, 60.0 to 72.7 mm., X = 67.1; Big Blue River, Kansas, 43.3 to 63.3 mm., X = 52.0; and Chippewa River, Wisconsin, 57.6 to 74.4 mm., X = 65.9.