New Records Kentucky Fishes 131 



dr.), at mouth of Spruce Cr., Whitley Co., 23 August 1961 ; KNP C07LAU 

 (13), Laurel R. (Cumberland R. dr.), 3.1 km above the mouth of Adams 

 Br., Laurel Co., 1 1 October 1979. 



In Kentucky this distinctive cyprinid is relatively common in clear 

 streams in the Cumberland River below Cumberland Falls. Although 

 noted by Clay (1975) from the Big Sandy River and upper Cumberland 

 River (above the falls), locality data were not given. Gilbert and Burgess 

 (1980a) did not include the Big Sandy, upper Cumberland, or Laurel rivers 

 in their depiction of the Kentucky range. The collections noted here are 

 apparently the only formally published localities of the whitetail shiner in 

 these drainages. It is also known from the upper Tennessee and New rivers 

 of Virginia (Gibbs 1961), which closely abut the headwaters of the Big 

 Sandy and Cumberland rivers. The presence of the species in the four 

 adjacent drainages suggests stream capture as the means of dispersal, and 

 Gibbs (1961) interpreted the presence of N. galacturus in the New River as 

 the result of piracies between the New and upper Tennessee rivers. 

 Subsequent workers regarded the New River populations as probably 

 native (Jenkins et al. 1971) or introduced (Gilbert and Burgess 1980a). 

 Limited distribution such as that observed in the New and Big Sandy rivers 

 may be the result of first entry during recent times, reentry after 

 extirpation, or introduction rather than natural factors (Jenkins et al. 

 1971). In light of the apparent absence of other species indicative of stream 

 capture with adjacent drainages, populations of N. galacturus in the Big 

 Sandy River are most likely the result of introduction. 



The only historical reference to N. galacturus in the Cumberland 

 River above the falls was by Evermann (1918), who apparently erroneously 

 cited Woolman's (1892) Rockcastle River locality. The rarity of N. 

 galacturus in surveys above the falls may be in part related to the extensive 

 habitat destruction associated with coal mining. Its apparent rarity in the 

 Laurel River is attributable to habitat destruction and the lack of 

 systematic surveys before the impoundment of Laurel River Reservoir. 

 Interpretation of the native or non-native status above Cumberland Falls 

 invokes reasoning similar to the interpretation of the populations in the 

 New and Big Sandy rivers, although there is strong faunal evidence of 

 lateral stream transfer between the Cumberland and upper Tennessee 

 (Clinch-Powell) rivers (Starnes et al. 1977). Additional collections, 

 comparison, and analyses of populations in the Big Sandy, Cumber- 

 land, New, and Tennessee rivers may further enlighten the enigmatic 

 dispersal history and distribution of N. galacturus. 



Notropis sp. Undescribed. Sawfin shiner. AU 18680 (4), KNP 

 COIMCY (13), EKU uncat. (4), Rock Cr. (Big S. Fk. Cumberland R. 

 dr.), 6.7 km SW of Bell Farm at Great Meadows Camp Site, McCreary 

 Co., 19 September 1978; AU uncat. (1), KNP uncat. (4), Pitman Cr. 

 (Cumberland R. dr.), Co. Rd. 1247 bridge in Somerset, Pulaski Co., 25 

 October 1979. 



