PISHES OF THE ALBEMARLE REGION. 
197 
THE ROANOKE RIVER. 
This is one of the longest rivers of North Carolina; it rises in the Alleghany 
Mountains in the southwestern part of Virginia and flows in a southeasterly direction 
a distance of over 300 miles, entering the western extremity of Albemarle Sound by 
several narrow months. The Roanoke in North Carolina is for the most part a swift 
muddy stream, carrying out into the southern half of Albemarle Sound a volume of 
thick yellow Avater which is often seen 40 miles below its mouth, contrasting strongly 
with the clear dark water of the northern side brought down by the Chowan. It is 
found that striped bass, white perch, and sturgeon prefer this muddy water and can 
always be taken there in greater numbers than on the northern side of the sound, 
where shad and alewives always occur more abundantly. The fishermen have learned 
by practical experience that the larger quantities of rock, sturgeon, and white perch 
ascend the Roanoke, while the larger run of shad and alewives is in the Chowan. The 
seine and other fisheries of the lower Roanoke are of considerable importance, shad, 
alewives, striped bass, sturgeon, catfish, suckers, perch, and a number of species of 
sunfishes ( Centrarchidce ) being taken in abundance. 
Collections were made at the following places in this river : 
(a) Plymouth and vicinity. — The Roanoke River in the neighborhood of Plymouth 
is a narrow muddy stream, the shores being low, Avooded Avith cypress, pine, and other 
trees, and for the most part swampy. The left bank of the river is of soft mud well 
overgrown with weeds. Temperature of water April 12, 56° F. Seining was done at 
numerous points in the following localities : 
(1) About a mile below the city on the right bank of the river, on a little sandy 
beach. Work was here made unsatisfactory by a large quantity of driftwood in the 
Avater, a heavy Avind, and high muddy water. 
(2) On the mud flats opposite the city. 
(3) About one mile above the city, on the right bank, at a small sandy beach 
fringed with bushes. 
(4) Two miles above Plymouth at the entrance to Middle River, a branch which 
the Roanoke gives off about 8 miles from its mouth and which again joins the main 
river a short distance from its termination. 
( b ) Weldon. — This place is 130 miles from the mouth of the river, which is here a 
narrow rapid stream passing between precipitous banks of clay, of which color the 
water partakes. At the time of visit, April 13, the river was much swollen by recent 
rains and was exceedingly muddy. Seining could not be done in the river owing to 
the rapid water and the nature of the shores. A short distance below the town, how- 
eA T er, a very small brook enters the river from the northwest, which it was possible to 
explore. This is apparently a spring brook, flowing betAveen steep clay banks which 
are Avell wooded in the lower part of its course. It is nowhere more than a few feet 
Avide and a few inches deep, except in small holes and near its mouth. This stream 
for a distance of half a mile Avas diligently seined in every hole that by any possibility 
could contain fish, but with only meager results. The brook abounds in crayfishes 
( Cambarus blandingii acuta), which Avere molting at this time; some specimens of 
large size were seined. Temperature of Avater April 13, 58° F. 
In the following list the stations at which collections Avere made are indicated by 
the letters (a and b) used in the foregoing paragraphs. 
