5 6 Fred C. Rohde, Mary L. Moser and Rudolf G. Arndt 



SPECIES OF SPECIAL CONCERN 



Lake sturgeon, Acipenser fulvescens Rafinesque 



The lake sturgeon is usually found over shoals in lakes and large rivers 

 in central Canada and Hudson Bay and St. Lawrence River drainages, and in 

 much of the Mississippi River drainage south to northeastern Louisiana (Page 

 and Burr 1991). Eight specimens, presumably of this species, were taken from 

 the French Broad River near Hot Springs in Madison County, North Carolina in 

 1945 (Brimley 1946). An occasional lake sturgeon is still reported from Douglas 

 Reservoir in Jefferson County, Tennessee, but these are unsubstantiated records 

 (Etnier and Starnes 1994). We set 2 large-mesh gill nets of 25 and 50 m total 

 length in the French Broad River downstream of Hot Springs in mid-May 1995 

 and in the river at the mouth of Big Laurel Creek in mid- August but failed to col- 

 lect sturgeon. Swift current limited sampling location possibilities at the former 

 site and reduced gear efficiency. Local North Carolina state fishery biologists 

 have no reported sightings (J. Borawa, personal communication, 1994). Men- 

 hinick (1986) considers the lake sturgeon to have been extirpated from North 

 Carolina, and we concur. 



Mooneye, Hiodon tergisus Lesueur 



The mooneye is found in central and southern Canada and in much of 

 the Mississippi River basin from the Great Lakes south to the Gulf of Mexico 

 (Page and Burr 1991). It historically occurred in the upper reaches of the French 

 Broad River near Bowman's Bluff, Henderson County, North Carolina in 1902 

 (Smith 1907), but it is now known only from Redmon Dam to the Tennessee 

 state line (Menhinick 1986) based on several mooneye obtained from fishermen 

 in the French Broad River just above the confluence with Big Laurel Creek by 

 Harned (1979). We did not take it in this river in our electroshocker or gill net 

 collections. Its status of special concern in North Carolina appears to be conser- 

 vative. 



River carpsucker, Carpiodes carpio (Rafinesque) 



The river carpsucker occurs throughout the Mississippi River basin 

 from Montana to Pennsylvania and south to the Gulf of Mexico (Lee and Plata- 

 nia 1980). There is one North Carolina 1947 record from the French Broad River 

 near Hot Springs in Madison County (Menhinick 1986). It was also captured in 

 the same river in Tennessee 41 rkm downstream of the North Carolina state line 

 in 1979 (Harned 1979), but we failed to collect it in this study. Its status of spe- 

 cial concern appears to be conservative. 



Mountain madtom, Noturus eleutherus Jordan 



The mountain madtom occurs in disjunct populations from northwest- 

 ern Pennsylvania south and west through the Ohio River basin to the Red and 



