4 -THE FISHES OF THE NEUSE RIVER BASIN. 
By BARTON W. EVERMANN and ULYSSES O. COX. 
In the summer of 1890 a small collection of fishes was made for the writers in the 
streams near Raleigh, R. 0., by Messrs. H. H. and 0. S. Brimley, taxidermists and 
natural-history dealers of that city. Collecting- was done in the Reuse River itself, 
in Walnut Creek and its smaller tributaries, and in various backwater holes, ponds, 
and ditches that at times are connected with the creek or the river. Though the 
number of species represented in the collection is small, it shows us what are the 
common species of the locality and the relative abundance of each. 
The greater parts of five days in June and July were given to the work of collect- 
ing, and seining was done in all manner of places, which are described in the collectors’ 
notes, from which tve quote : 
Collecting was done inNeuse River, in Walnut Creek about a mile above its union with the river, 
and in neighboring mud-holes. The river is a fairly swift stream, bottom mostly sand or gravel, very 
much broken with small, medium, and huge granite bowlders. Nearly all fish from the river were 
caught alongshore, where the bottom is mostly mud and exceedingly snaggy. Water seldom over 
shoulder-deep and temperature warm. 
July 8. — The top minnows [ Gambusia affinis~\ were caught by dip net, from a pond of water fed 
by springs in a granite quarry on the edge of town. These seem to be the only fish found in this place. 
The balance of the specimens from AValuut Creek and lake holes near here, say 8 miles from mouth of 
creek. We were particular about fishing the riffles and sand-bars for darters, but failed to get any. 
Most of the round-bodied shiners [ Uybognathus nuchalis and Notropis niveus] were caught in fishing for 
darters. Nearly all the rest of the fish came from a lake hole connected with the creek. 
Walnut Creek is a medium swift stream, bottom chiefly sand. Very few fish seem to stay in the 
clear, open reaches, where it is possible to seine. One haul of the net, some two hundred yards down 
a straight reach, with an even depth of from 1 to 2^- feet, clear sand bottom, seine taking in full width 
of stream, resulted in absolutely nothing, not a single specimen of any kind coming to hand. The 
fish that are in the creek seem only to frequent the eddies and around logs and tree roots and tops, 
just where a net can not be used. The backwater holes have, almost invariably, a mud bottom. 
Some have a deep layer of soft mud and dead leaves, others a fairly firm bottom, but always more 
or less muddy. Some are permanently connected with the creek, some only when the waterworks 
turbines at the next dam above where we fished are running (daily or oftener). Others again take high 
water or even heavy freshets to make the connection. We had no means of determining the tempera- 
ture of the water, but in some of the smaller and more exposed holes the water seemed very warm. 
The small perch witli rather faint vertical bars [Lepomis megalotis ] was not very plentiful. 
June 18. — This day’s collecting was in the valley of Walnut Creek. No specimens came from the 
creek itself and only a few from the smaller tributary streams. These included a few “top minnows” 
[ Gambusia affinis ], a very small percentage of shiners and cats, and the pirate perch. All the other 
species came from the meadow ditches. On this day we did not use the seine, but used small dip nets 
of fine mesh (mosquito netting). All specimens taken of the following were preserved : Shiners of all 
kinds, the larger perch [ Acantliarchus pomotis ], which we have never taken elsewhere; pike [Lucius 
americanus and Lucius vermiculatus'], cats, mullets, and speckled perch [Enneacanthus gloriosus~\. The 
use of the dip nets accounts for the large number of “top minnows” taken where we had never 
secured any with the seine. 
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