14 



Slimy sculpins and torrent sculpins were found in the same tributary streams of the 

 Kootenai River below Libby Dam but for the most part isolated from each other 

 longitudinally. On streams where both slimy and torrent sculpins were present, slimy 

 sculpins were generally located in the upper end of these tributary streams further from the 

 main Kootenai than the torrent sculpins. Physical and chemical factors influencing this 

 longitudinal displacement of slimy sculpins on streams where torrents were present were 

 not identified. 



Torrent sculpin distribution was restricted to the Kootenai River watershed. This 

 species was commonly found on tributaries of the Kootenai River below Libby Dam in 

 close proximity to the main river. 



Torrent sculpins were present on two tributaries of the Kootenai River upstream of 

 Libby Dam. No other sculpin species was found above Libby Dam on tributary streams to 

 Koocanusa Reservoir. Torrent sculpins were present on Big Creek as well as the Tobacco 

 River and its tributaries. A total of 8 sites were sampled on tributaries of Koocanusa 

 Reservoir at varying distances from the lake's shoreline. 



Shorthead sculpins were found in several watersheds but their distribution appeared to 

 be disconnected. Shortheads were the only sculpin species present in the St. Regis River 

 and its tributaries. Their distribution in this watershed was widespread. Shorthead 

 sculpins were found at four sites outside the St. Regis River watershed but their 

 distribution and abundance at these additional sites was unclear. 



The additional four sites containing shorthead sculpins turned up only after laboratory 

 identification of the samples. These sites appear discontinuous from the shorthead 

 population in the St. Regis River watershed. One site occurred on Prospect Creek, a 

 tributary of the Clark Fork River near Thompson Falls. The other three sites were in the 



