Gauley River Fishes 65 



Stizostedion vitreum. — Reed (1974) first discussed Walleye in the Gauley 

 River system. A rotenone sample from the mouth of Meadow River 

 produced one specimen in this survey! 



Cottidae 



Cottus bairdi. — Prior to this survey, records of Cottus were not known 

 from Gauley River. Three specimens of C. bairdi were collected from 

 Williams River, Station 11 (AEL 182). They were distinguished by 

 characters recommended by Robins (1954). One other collection exists 

 (OSU-LM 76-7), made concurrently with this survey from Williams 

 River. 



Cottus carolinae ssp. — C. carolinae were collected from habitats with 

 moderate to large rubble in Williams River (Stations 10, 11) and Peters 

 Creek (47, 48). 



Other Species 

 Other species are known to occur in the Gauley River system. Perca 

 flavescens, Lepomis auntus, Pomoxis annularis, and Pomoxis mgromaculatus, oc- 

 cur in Summersville Reservoir (C. Clower, pers. comm.), where they 

 presumably have been introduced. Reed (1974) reported stocking of Esox 

 masquinongy in Meadow River. Ictalurus punctatus (CU 32393, 32533) was 

 taken from Gauley River, Route 31 bridge, 4.8 km south of Summersville, 

 prior to constuction of Summersville Dam. Subsequent to our survey, the 

 W. Va. Department of Natural Resources collected specimens of Phoxinus 

 oreas 36 km upstream of the mouth of Williams River (R.L. Miles, pers. 

 comm.). 



Expected Species 

 Hocutt et al. (1978) treated the fishes of Greenbrier River and included 

 information on species known from the main-channel New River between 

 Claytor Lake, Virginia, and Kanawha Falls, West Virginia. It is possible 

 that some of these species may potentially occur in Gauley River, e.g., 

 Hybopsis dissimilis and Labidesthes sicculus. Claytor Lake, Bluestone Reser- 

 voir and the Union Carbide impoundment at Hawks Nest may be 

 barriers for downstream dispersal of upper New River fishes (Ross 1959; 

 Ross and Perkins 1959; Hambrick et al. 1973; Jenkins et al. 1972; Hocutt 

 1974; Hocutt et al. 1978; and Stauffer 1975). While the complete effec- 

 tiveness of Kanawha Falls as a barrier to the upstream dispersal of fishes 

 from the lower Kanawha River is debatable (Hocutt, in press), it no 

 doubt is a limiting factor for many species. 



