Table 3. Relative Abundance of Fishes in Per Cent of the Total Number Taken, Big Blue River Basin, Kansas. Trace (Tr.) Is Used for Values Less Than .05 Per Cent, and Dashes Signify that the Species Did Not Occur in the Counted Collections Although it May Have Occurred in Uncounted Collections from the Same Stream-type. Three Species, C. auratus, N. buchanani, and S. canadense, Were Not Taken in Counted Collections.
| Species | Sandy streams | Muddy streams | Gravelly streams | |
| Big Blue River | Little Blue River | |||
| N. lutrensis | 43.5 | 55.9 | 27.6 | 56.0 |
| I. punctatus | 14.0 | 7.0 | 1.2 | 4.2 |
| Carpiodes carpio | 11.9 | 2.0 | 5.0 | 0.5 |
| N. deliciosus | 8.2 | 28.2 | 3.1 | 11.1 |
| I. melas | 2.5 | — | 1.3 | 0.5 |
| Cyprinus carpio | 2.3 | 1.9 | 2.7 | 0.2 |
| P. olivaris | 1.8 | 0.8 | — | — |
| L. humilis | 1.7 | — | 9.0 | 5.1 |
| I. bubalus | 1.4 | 0.1 | — | Tr. |
| P. mirabilis | 1.3 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 1.3 |
| H. nuchalis | 1.2 | — | — | Tr. |
| P. promelas | 0.8 | 1.0 | 28.7 | 4.0 |
| H. aestivalis | 0.7 | 0.2 | — | — |
| A. grunniens | 0.5 | — | — | 0.2 |
| L. osseus | 0.5 | 1.0 | — | — |
| C. anomalum | 0.4 | 0.2 | 2.7 | 4.6 |
| C. commersonnii | 0.4 | — | — | 0.7 |
| D. cepedianum | 0.4 | Tr. | 0.1 | — |
| N. percobromus | 0.3 | — | — | — |
| P. annularis | 0.3 | Tr. | — | — |
| N. flavus | 0.2 | 0.4 | — | Tr. |
| S. atromaculatus | 0.2 | 0.1 | 12.2 | 1.7 |
| M. aureolum | 0.1 | 0.2 | — | — |
| I. cyprinella | 0.1 | — | 0.1 | — |
| P. notatus | 0.1 | — | — | 2.2 |
| I. niger | 0.1 | 0.1 | — | — |
| H. alosoides | 0.1 | — | — | — |
| E. spectabile | 0.1 | — | 1.4 | 1.6 |
| R. chrysops | 0.1 | — | — | — |
| L. cyanellus | 0.1 | — | 3.5 | Tr. |
| H. storeriana | Tr. | — | — | — |
| L. platostomus | Tr. | — | — | — |
| M. salmoides | Tr. | — | — | — |
| P. nigromaculatus | Tr. | — | — | — |
| I. natalis | Tr. | — | 1.0 | Tr. |
| N. umbratilis | Tr. | — | — | — |
| C. forbesi | Tr. | — | — | — |
| S. platorynchus | Tr. | — | — | — |
| F. kansae | — | Tr. | — | — |
| E. nigrum | Tr. | — | 0.1 | 0.2 |
| N. rubellus | — | — | — | Tr. |
| N. topeka | — | — | — | 1.0 |
| N. cornutus | — | — | — | 1.0 |
| C. erythrogaster | — | — | — | 1.0 |
| L. macrochirus | — | — | — | 1.0 |
Carpiodes carpio, Cyprinus carpio, I. punctatus, I. melas, and L. humilis were widespread, but each was absent or rare in one of the kinds of streams ([Table 3]). Carpiodes carpio, Cyprinus carpio, and I. punctatus occurred most frequently in the sandy streams, whereas L. humilis was most common in muddy streams. The high per cent of I. melas in collections from the Big Blue River is a direct result of one large population that was taken with rotenone in a borrow-pit at Station 6-S. In my opinion, this species actually was most abundant in the muddy streams.
Some fish were almost restricted to the sandy streams, apparently because of preference for larger waters, or sandy stream-bottoms: P. olivaris, I. bubalus, H. nuchalis, H. aestivalis, A. grunniens, L. osseus, D. cepedianum, N. percobromus, P. annularis, N. flavus, M. aureolum, I. niger, H. alosiodes, and R. chrysops. Other species that were taken only in the larger rivers, and that are sometimes associated with streams even larger (or more sandy) than the Big Blue River are H. storeriana, L. platostomus, M. salmoides, P. nigromaculatus, C. forbesi, S. platorynchus, F. kansae, N. buchanani, S. canadense, and C. auratus. Ictiobus cyprinella also occurred more frequently in the larger streams.
The muddy-bottomed streams supported populations composed primarily of P. promelas, N. lutrensis, and S. atromaculatus. No species was restricted to this habitat, but the following were characteristic there: P. promelas, S. atromaculatus, L. humilis, L. cyanellus, and I. natalis. Carpiodes carpio, Cyprinus carpio, C. anomalum, E. spectabile, and E. nigrum were locally common in muddy streams, but the first two were most frequent in larger, sandy streams, and the last three in gravelly streams.
In gravel-bottomed, upland streams, N. cornutus, N. rubellus, N. topeka, and C. erythrogaster characteristically occurred; with the exception of N. rubellus (only one specimen taken), all were common at some stations. Other species in gravelly creeks were N. lutrensis, C. anomalum, C. commersonnii, P. notatus, L. macrochirus, E. spectabile, and E. nigrum. Although the one specimen of N. umbratilis taken in this survey was from the Big Blue River, this species is more characteristic of the clearer creeks in Kansas.
In order to illustrate the composition of the fauna in some specific streams in the Big Blue River Basin, I segregated the fishes into ecological groups, as in the above discussion: ubiquitous types; species of larger, sandy streams; fishes of muddy streams; and fishes of clear, gravelly creeks.
The total number of species taken in each of the streams was divided into the number of species from that stream that were in each of these units, to give a percentage. The resultant data are presented graphically in [Figure 3].