Estimates of Fish Populations in Two Northeastern 

 North Carolina Swamp Streams 



William H. Tarplee, Jr. 1 



Department of ^oology, North Carolina State University, 

 Raleigh, North Carolina 27607 



ABSTRACT. — Fish populations were sampled in two northeastern 

 North Carolina swamp streams, Duke and Hoggard Mill Creek, from 

 May through August 1972. Water conditions permitted partitioning the 

 streams into 0.4 km sections with nets, and estimating the abundances 

 of 30 species in randomly chosen areas using the Petersen method. Some 

 biomass estimates were also made. Population estimates in Duke 

 Swamp varied from 6630 to 33,734 fish per surface hectare. In Hoggard 

 Mill Creek estimated numbers ranged from 17,656 to 103,891 fish per 

 surface hectare. Large variations were found in numbers of fish among 

 sections of stream, but these variations were not uniform from species to 

 species. Biomass estimates ranged from 195 kg to 1607 kg offish per sur- 

 face hectare for the two streams. 



INTRODUCTION 



Swamp streams are generally defined as streams located in lowland 

 areas which flood periodically, inundating the vegetated flood plain for 

 extended periods during the year. These areas are usually characterized 

 by the presence of bald cypress, Taxodium distichum, and tupelo gum, Nyssa 

 aquatica. The plant communities in these systems were described in detail 

 by Wells (1928), Beaven and Oosting (1939), and Hall and Penfound 

 (1943). Although swamp stream ecosystems are known to have diverse 

 communities (Viosca 1928, Wharton 1970), few studies have been con- 

 ducted regarding the abundance of their components. 



Fish populations in two swamp streams were examined in this study 

 from May through August 1972, in an effort to determine their composi- 

 tion and magnitude. Attempts were made to estimate the numerical 

 abundance, and in some cases the biomass, of each species. 



MATERIALS AND METHODS 

 The Study Area 



Duke Swamp and Hoggard Mill Creek are swamp streams in North- 

 eastern North Carolina (Fig. 1). Timber has been logged along both 



Present address: Carolina Power and Light Company, P. O. Box 1551, Raleigh, 

 NC 27602. 



Brimleyana No. 1: 99-112. March 1979. 99 



