44 Fred C. Rohde, Mary L. Moser and Rudolf G. Arndt 



Scartomyzon ariommus and Etheostoma podostemone have apparent 

 healthy populations in the Dan River system. The first record of 

 Ichthyomyzon bdellium from North Carolina is presented. 



The North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission lists 9 species of 

 fishes in this state as endangered, 1 1 as threatened, and 30 as of special concern 

 (Article 25, Chapter 113 of General Statutes of the State of North Carolina, 1987, 

 amended 1991). Since 1988 we have surveyed some of these species, and to date 

 have reported on the distribution and status of the sandhills chub, Semotilus lum- 

 bee, and the pinewoods darter, Etheostoma mariae (Rohde and Arndt 1991), and 

 of the sharphead darter, E. acuticeps (Rohde and Arndt 1994). In this paper we 

 add new, and summarize existing, data on the distribution and status of 22 of the 

 25 state-listed fishes that occur in the North Carolina portions of the French 

 Broad and Nolichucky river systems (Tennessee River drainage) and in the Dan 

 River system (Roanoke River drainage). The former are located in the Blue 

 Ridge Physiographic Province and the Dan River headwaters are located in 

 Appalachian Mountain remnants in north central North Carolina in the Piedmont 

 Physiographic Province. We also provide records on a species of fish new to 

 North Carolina. 



Three endangered, five threatened, and nine of special concern fish 

 species (34% of the state total) occur in the French Broad River system; two 

 endangered, two threatened, and one species of special concern (10% of the 

 total) occur in the Nolichucky River system; and three endangered and two of 

 special concern fishes (10% of the total) occur in the Dan River system (Table 

 1). 



SURVEY AREAS 



The French Broad River originates in North Carolina and runs some 

 166 river kilometers (rkm) to where it enters Tennessee and drains approximate- 

 ly 4,163 km 2 of North Carolina (Fig. 1). River elevation over this reach (Fig. 2) 

 drops from 640 m to 378 m; river gradient from its headwaters to Asheville is 2.6 

 m/km and from Asheville to the Tennessee border is 5.2 m/km (Richardson et al. 

 1963). Redmon Dam near Marshall in Madison County, North Carolina, pre- 

 vents upstream movement of fishes, and six species that might be expected to 

 occur farther upstream are known only from below the dam (Menhinick 1986). 



The Nolichucky River and its three major tributaries (Fig. 2), the Cane, 

 North Toe, and South Toe rivers, drain an area of about 1,666 km 2 (Crowell 

 1965). The Nolichucky River enters Tennessee at an elevation of 539 m (Crow- 

 ell 1965), and joins the French Broad River at Douglas Reservoir in Jefferson 

 County, Tennessee (Fig. 1). 



