Fishes of the Gauley River, West Virginia 



Charles H. Hocutt 



Appalachian Environmental Laboratory, 

 University of Maryland, Frostburg, Maryland 21532 



Robert F. Denoncourt 



Department of Biology, York College of 

 Pennsylvania, York, Pennsylvania 17405 



AND 



Jay R. Stauffer, Jr. 



Appalachian Environmental Laboratory, 

 University of Maryland, Frostburg, Maryland 21532 



ABSTRACT. — The confluence of Gauley River and New River forms 

 the Kanawha River a short distance above Kanawha Falls, West 

 Virginia. A survey of fishes of Gauley River in 1976 yielded 50 species, 

 25 of which were not previously reported in the literature. Six species 

 {Lampetra aepyptera, Moxostoma erythrurum, Ictalurus natalis, Ictalurus 

 nebulosus, Noturus flavus, and Percina caprodes) established new distribution 

 records above Kanawha Falls, which is generally recognized as a major 

 barrier to fish dispersal. Additional verified records increased the total 

 known ichthyofauna to 58 species. These data suggest that fishes which 

 successfully negotiated Kanawha Falls may have found the Gauley 

 River a less strenuous route than the New River for upstream dispersal. 

 Gauley River fauna also may have been influenced by stream captures 

 with Greenbrier and Elk rivers. 



INTRODUCTION 



Gauley River rises in Webster and Pocahontas counties, West Virginia, 

 and flows west-southwest to Gauley Bridge where it joins New River to 

 form Kanawha River (Fig. 1). The main-channel Gauley is 168 km long, 

 occupies a drainage basin of 3497 km 2 and has an average gradient of 6.1 

 m/km (Reed 1974). Its headwaters are characterized by broad, meander- 

 ing, low gradient streams draining the Plateau; the lower section is well 

 known for long rapids, cataracts, large boulders and a deep, narrow V- 

 shaped valley bordered by sandstone cliffs (Reger 1920). 



Gauley River apparently retains the old channel it developed on a 

 peneplain during the Cretaceous (Reger 1921), as evidenced by 

 numerous ancient meanders representative of an old base-level bed (Hen- 

 nen 1919). The length of the river, 168 km, as compared to the airline dis- 

 tance, 95 km (Reed 1974), is indicative of the amount of meandering. 



Brimleyana No. 1: 47-80. March 1979. 47 



