Kentucky Fishes 105 



impoundment surveys conducted by the Kentucky Department of Fish 

 and Wildlife Resources. Our collections in Trammel Fork (Barren R. 

 dr.) indicate the species continues to persist in good numbers in tributar- 

 ies unaffected by impoundment. The only previous collection of P. 

 macrocephala in Kinniconick Creek is based on a single specimen col- 

 lected in the 1930s and housed at the University of Louisville. Our 

 observations indicate that the species is moderately common in approp- 

 riate habitat along the Kinniconick Creek mainstem. In spite of these 

 relatively healthy populations in the Barren River drainage and Kinnic- 

 onick Creek, the conservation status of the species in Kentucky should 

 remain threatened (Branson et al. 1981b) because of pollution and habi- 

 tat destruction associated with coal mining in the upper Kentucky, Lick- 

 ing, and Big Sandy rivers (Harker et al. 1979), the extirpation of the 

 species from the Cumberland River of Kentucky (Page 1978), and the 

 threat of oil shale development in the Kinniconick Creek drainage 

 (Harker etal. 1981). 



Percina phoxocephala (Nelson). Slenderhead darter. KNP CO 1 LOG 

 (1, 49), Whippoorwill Cr. (Red R. dr.), 0.7 km W Millertown Church, 

 Logan Co., 8 July 1982; KNP C03LOG (3, 58-63), S. Fk. (Red R. dr.), 

 Kentucky-Tennessee line, Logan Co., 13 July 1982; KNP C04LOG (5, 

 65-69), S. Fk. (Red R. dr.), 1.7 km NE Smith Grove Church, Logan 

 Co., 13 July 1982; KNP C05LOG (3, 61-84), Red R. (Cumberland R. 

 dr.), at Dot, Logan Co., 13 July 1982; KNP C02TRI (5, 55-67), Little R. 

 (Cumberland R. dr.), 1.3 km downstream from KY 1253 crossing, Trigg 

 Co., 6 July 1982. 



Percina phoxocephala was previously unknown from the Red 

 River of Kentucky and Tennessee (Starnes and Etnier 1980; Thompson 

 1980), and Burr (1980) noted its former occurrence in the lower Cum- 

 berland River. The collections noted herein are new records for the Red 

 River and substantiate the persistence of the species in a lower Cumber- 

 land River tributary. In Kentucky, the species was regarded as of special 

 concern (Branson et al. 1981b) and was noted by Burr (1980) as occa- 

 sional within several drainages. Recent collections made by the authors 

 and fresh material examined by us indicate good populations of P. 

 phoxocephala in Tygarts Creek of eastern Kentucky (Warren 1981, and 

 unpublished), and upper and lower Green, Barren, and Rough rivers 

 (Retzer et al. 1983; Warren and Cicerello 1982, and unpubhshed). The 

 slenderhead darter has been taken by others in recent years from several 

 stations each in Eagle Creek (lower Kentucky River) (Horseman and 

 Branson 1973) and Salt River and tributaries (Hoyt et al. 1979). It 

 therefore appears that retention of the species on the Kentucky Academy 

 of Science list of rare fishes is unwarranted. 



