Freshwater Fishes of Croatan National Forest, 
North Carolina, with Comments on the Zoogeography 
of Coastal Plain Fishes 
Fred C. Rohde 
Department of £ 'oology , University of North Carolina, 
CEapel Hill, North Carolina 27514 
- George H. Burgess 
Florida State Museum, University of Florida, 
Gainesville, Florida 32611 
and 
G. William Link, Jr. 
Institute of Marine Sciences, University of North Carolina, 
Morehead City, North Carolina 28557 
ABSTRACT . — In a survey of freshwater fishes in and near Croatan 
National Forest, eastern North Carolina, 94 collections at 51 localities 
yielded 5670 specimens representing 38 species. Sixteen additional 
species have been reported from the Forest, but at least four are con- 
sidered questionable. Twenty species of estuarine fishes were collected 
during the study, including the first North Carolina record of the 
Fourspine stickleback, Apeltes quadracus. 
Examination of the distribution of fishes in the nine major river 
systems draining the lower Coastal Plain of North Carolina reveals the 
absence of a number of species in the smaller drainages (e.g. Shallotte, 
New, White Oak and Newport rivers). Two possible reasons are lack of 
suitable ecological conditions and the irregular distribution patterns ob- 
served at the periphery of a species’ range. 
INTRODUCTION 
The fishes of the lower Coastal Plain of North Carolina have not been 
as intensively sampled as those that occur in upland areas of the state, 
primarily because of apparent lower species diversity and high frequency 
of underwater obstructions. We initiated the survey on which this paper 
is based in 1973 to determine what freshwater fishes occur in the Croatan 
National Forest in eastern North Carolina. Observations on brackish 
water and marine fishes were also included. 
Several prior fish surveys made in the general vicinity of the Croatan 
National Forest were either very localized (Bayless 1966; Turner and 
Johnson 1973), or covered a wide area of the state (Bayless and Smith 
1962; Keup and Bayless 1964; Davis and McCoy 1965). Seehorn (1976) 
Brimleyana No. 2: 97-118. November 1979 
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