Gauley River Fishes 77 



Harris Fork of the latter (Reger 1921). Peters Creek apparently captured 

 Muddlety Creek drainage via Arbuckle Branch, and could have once 

 flowed through the present valleys of Otter and Little Elk creeks to a con- 

 fluence with Gauley River at Swiss, 12. 9 km downstream of its present 

 mouth (Reger 1921). Back Fork of McMillion Creek may have once 

 flowed into Persinger Creek. Similarly, fishes may have dispersed up- 

 stream through this series of captures. 



Elk River of the lower Kanawha drainage has captured part of the 

 Gauley system (Campbell 1896) and continues to encroach on Gauley 

 River waters. Only 4.8 km separate their main-channels near Webster 

 Springs, and capture by the Elk appears imminent (Reger 1920); the Elk 

 valley is nearly 244 m lower than the Gauley valley at Webster Springs. 

 Also, Anthony and Laurel creeks, tributaries to Birch River of the Elk 

 system, are presently encroaching on Beaver and Muddlety creeks of 

 Gauley River (Reger 1921). There may have been faunal interchange 

 during the Elk River capture of Gauley River drainage (Campbell 1896). 

 Noturus miurus (UNC 7629; identifications verified) is recorded from 

 Williams River (Gauley system), but is suspected to represent a mistaken 

 locality. No specimens were collected by us from Williams River after 

 repeated sampling, but the species is known from nearby Elk River 

 (Taylor 1969). 



In summary, these data support a hypothesis that Kanawha Falls was 

 once more navigable to fishes than at present (Hocutt, in press). 

 Ichthyofauna once above the Falls area could migrate up either the New 

 River gorge and its series of montane stresses, or up Gauley River, a 

 rigorous but less stressful route. Biological evidence supports Wright's 

 (1934) contention of piracy between the Greenbrier and Gauley rivers, 

 with fauna having dispersed into each drainage from the other. Facts may 

 be masked by introductions of various species (e.g., Hocutt and Ham- 

 brick 1973) into the Gauley system, and by extensive logging and mining 

 operations in the basin during the past 80 years. 



ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. — We particularly wish to express our 

 gratitude to D. Harris, C. Clower and W. Tolan of the Ecological Services 

 Division, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Elkins, West Virginia. The spirit 

 in which this study was conducted is a tribute to their cooperation. Our 

 appreciation is further extended to various persons of the West Virginia 

 Department of Natural Resources (W. Va. DNR) who assisted whenever 

 possible and directed the rotenone samplings. Also, we are appreciative of 

 the Handley and Elkins facilities which the W. Va. DNR allowed us to use 

 during the course of this investigation. Fred C. Rohde, University of North 



