106 
Joe C. Feeman, Jr. 
Duck River 
With 86 species (Table 2), the Duck River produced the greatest 
species diversity found in the nine study streams. Fishes were taken dur- 
ing 41 collections at 10 sites from RM 153.1 to RM 243.1. The most 
productive site in the study was also on the Duck River, where 72 spe- 
cies were found at RM 179.1. Several significant species were taken, 
including one species listed as threatened and five listed as in need of 
management in Tennessee. 
One of the most important finds was the collection of relatively 
large numbers of the Tippecanoe darter, Etheostoma tippecanoe Jordan 
and Evermann, a species listed as in need of management in Tennessee 
(Starnes and Etnier 1980). This species was not known from the Duck 
River until 1975 when two specimens were collected at Anchor Mill 
(RM 206.6; C. F. Saylor, unpubl. data). During our study, 1,640 speci- 
mens were collected at 9 of the 10 Duck River sites; the exception was 
the RM 243.1 site. Three sites yielded most of the specimens: RM 159.4 
(395), RM 176.9 (411), and RM 179.1 (461). Numbers diminished 
upstream from RM 179.1, with only 38 specimens taken at RM 186.8 
and 18 at RM 202.2. Of the darter species in the Duck River samples, 
only the redline darter, Etheostoma rufilineatum (Cope), and the banded 
darter, Etheostoma zonale (Cope), were more abundant. 
In July samples, large numbers of E. tippecanoe in spawning condi- 
tion were taken in shallow (15-30 cm), swift shoals with sand and gravel 
substrate. One 25-foot transect at RM 176.9 into a seine yielded more 
than 100 specimens. Spawning males exhibited billiant yellow and blue 
coloration and were free-milting, indicating peak spawning condition. 
During earlier and later samples, both sexes were most often taken in 
deeper water with less current. 
The small size of E. tippecanoe (35 mm SL, maximum; Zorach 
1969) is probably the main reason previous collectors failed to collect it 
in the Duck River. A TVA survey in 1972 (Anonymous 1975) included 
three samples in areas where E. tippecanoe should occur. Sampling by 
Whitney (1957) also included two sites where E. tippecanoe was found 
to be common in our study. Samples in both of these surveys were 
taken using rotenone, and any specimens of this small darter could have 
washed through the block net. 
The blacknose shiner, Notropis heterolepis Eigenmann and Eigen- 
mann, was collected for the first time in the Duck River system during 
this study. This species is listed as in need of management in Tennessee 
(Starnes and Etnier 1980). Three specimens were collected at RM 243.1 
in June 1981. This is also the first record of this species from the Ten- 
nessee River drainage. A northerly species, it was previously known 
from Tennessee only in tributaries to the Cumberland River in Smith, 
Sumner, and Wilson counties (Starnes and Etnier 1980). The collection 
site on the Duck River (RM 243.1) is adjacent to the Cumberland River 
system and represents the southernmost occurrence of N. heterolepis. 
