Tennessee River Fish Surveys 
113 
management in Tennessee (Starnes and Etnier 1980) and of special con- 
cern in Virginia (Jenkins and Musick 1980). 
Powell River 
A total of 64 species were taken at six sites on the Powell River 
(Table 2). The most significant find was the yellowfin madtom, Noturus 
flavipinnis Taylor, listed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as a 
threatened species. Our collection of a single specimen at Buchanan 
Ford (RM 99.2) represents only the second occurrence for this rare spe- 
cies in the Powell River. In 1968, TVA collected a single specimen at 
McDowell Ford (RM 106.6; Anonymous 1970). Since our collection, 
another specimen was collected in 1983 by P. Shute and several other 
University of Tennessee graduate students, also at Buchanan Ford 
(Shute 1984). 
Our specimen was taken from the back of a small island, in a pool 
(1.5 m) over silty, bedrock substrate. The collection was taken at night 
using backpack electrofishing methods. During 1980 and 1981, seven 
additional sampling trips at this site failed to produce any additional 
specimens. A 1976 rotenone sample by TVA in the same area produced 
no specimens. Also, four samples in 1979 and 1980 at RM 106.7 (the 
1968 TVA collection site) yielded no specimens. 
Collections of such small numbers of N. flavipinnis indicate a 
limited population of this species in the Powell River. Shute (1984) and 
Burkhead and Jenkins (1982) suggest that this species prefers smaller 
streams. Shute (1984) indicates the Powell River specimens may repres- 
ent “strays” from nearby tributary populations. Several tributaries 
sampled with rotenone during two TVA studies, 1968 (Anonymous 
1970) and 1976 (TVA, unpubl. data) yielded no specimens of this spe- 
cies. But owing to the difficulty of collecting the yellowfin madtom, 
these samples are inconclusive. These data indicate that at least a relict 
population still exists in the Powell River or in one of its tributaries. 
Ammocrypta was first reported from the Powell River by Wool- 
man (1892) as Ammocrypta pellucidum (- Ammocrypta pellucida). 
Woolman reported it as the “most abundant of the darters” from the 
“Powell River 8 miles south of Cumberland Gap, Tennessee.” In 1976, 
W. C. and L. B. Starnes collected 16 specimens of Ammocrypta clara at 
US 25E bridge, which is near the Woolman site (Starnes et al. 1977). 
The validity of the Woolman identification of A. pellucida (Putnam) is 
questionable, but no specimens are extant (Williams 1975). Starnes et 
al. (1977) speculate that Woolman’s specimens were A. clara , and that 
the occurrence of both species is unlikely. 
In July 1979, five specimens of A. clara were taken in our samples 
at Buchanan Ford (RM 99.2). The following day, five more specimens 
were collected at Brooks Bridge (RM 95.3). During the next two years, 
specimens were taken at three additional study sites: RM 106.6, RM 
117.4, and RM 120.6, with a total of 55 specimens taken in this study. 
River miles 99.2 and 120.6 produced the most individuals, 27 and 14, 
respectively. These two sites had numerous areas of sand and fine 
