West Virginia Fishes 1 13 



from small waters. It was not until the extensive Kanawha River work 

 of Addair (1944) and the annotated checklist of Raney (1947) that the 

 occurrence and distribution of many species was generally understood. 

 Although the recent drainage surveys by Hocutt et al. (1978, 1979; in 

 review), Stauffer et al. (1975, 1980; in press), and Hardman et al. (1981) 

 resulted in significant contributions in this regard, information relative 

 to several species is lacking. Investigators have encountered difficulty in 

 preparing state nongame or "endangered species" documents because 

 much information relative to West Virginia's ichthyofauna is ambigu- 

 ous, unverifiable, and /or unpublished. This section discusses the status 

 of several species that are uncommon either statewide or in a particular 

 drainage. New information collected by WVWR is noted (Table 1). 

 Ichthyomyzon unicuspis Hubbs and Trautman, silver lamprey 



This parasitic lamprey is found in the Mississippi basin, primarily 

 from Tennessee northward to the Great Lakes, St. Lawrence and Hud- 

 son Bay drainages (Rohde and Lanteigne-Courchene 1980). It was not 

 reported from West Virginia drainages by Raney (1947), Schwartz 

 (1958b), Jenkins et al. (1972), or Stauffer et al. (1982); but Miles (1971), 

 Denoncourt et al. (1975), and Stauffer (pers. comm.) considered it 

 native on the basis of unpublished WVWR records. The earliest West 

 Virginia record for the silver lamprey was that reported from the main 

 channel Ohio River by Trautman (1957, OSU 11657). This record 

 appears to have been overlooked by past investigators, probably due to 

 the nearness of the site to the boundaries of Kentucky, Ohio, and West 

 Virginia. Verifiable specimens have since been taken from four Ohio 

 River locations (WVWR 113, 132, 153, 228, 390). These data suggest 

 that the silver lamprey population in the upper Ohio River is increasing, 

 rather than decreasing as theorized by Trautman (1981). 

 Lampetra appendix (DeKay), American brook lamprey 



Lampetra appendix (= lamottei) is a nonparasitic lamprey of the 

 subgenus Lethenteron. It is known from the Great Lakes and Atlantic 

 slope drainages from Minnesota to Virginia, and throughout the middle 

 and upper sections of the Mississippi River basin (Rohde 1980c). Raney 

 (1947) reported this species in the state on the basis of the Monongahela 

 River record of Gribble (1939). Rohde (1980c) did not show the Ameri- 

 can brook lamprey in West Virginia, but indicated occurrence in the 

 Ohio River drainage of Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York. 

 The species was noted as native to only the Little Kanawha River by 

 Jenkins et al. (1972) and Stauffer et al. (1982). Stauffer (pers. comm.) 

 indicated that there are no confirmable specimens from state waters. 

 WVWR personnel recently collected L. appendix from Middle Island 

 Creek of the Ohio River drainage (WVWR 83, 388). The WVWR 

 vouchers and an uncatalogued Little Kanawha River specimen at the 



