Croatan National Forest Fishes 
113 
neacanthus glonosus, Lepomis auritus, L. gibbosus, L. gulosus, L. macrochirus, 
Micropterus salmoides salmoides , Etheostoma olmstedi olmstedi, and E. serriferum. 
Of these, only M. s. salmoides and E. serriferum terminate in the Chowan 
(Jenkins et al. 1975); all others extend farther northward. No southern 
terminations are involved. 
Using available distributional information, 41 species are known to be 
absent from one or more Coastal Plain drainages in North Carolina. 
Based on habitat preferences and distributional patterns of the species in- 
volved, we believe that 13 of these will eventually appear in collections 
from those drainages where they are now unknown (Table 4). Three 
others (Elassoma evergladei, Notropis petersoni, N. cummingsae) have northern 
termini in North Carolina and are not expected in more northerly 
drainages. The remaining 25 species have what appears to be real dis- 
tributional gaps. These may be further separated into two groups: a 
lowland contingent composed of 5 species of sunfishes, and a larger group 
of 20 species with predominantly upland affinities (Table 4). All are miss- 
ing from the New, White Oak, and Newport rivers, and all but Lepomis 
marginatus and L. punctatus are also absent from the Shallotte or Northeast 
Cape Fear, or both. 
The absence of the 5 lowland species of sunfishes ( Lepomis marginatus, L. 
punctatus, Elassoma zonatum, Enneacanthus chaetodon, Pomoxis nigromaculatus) 
from the New, White Oak, and Newport rivers is enigmatic. Since the 
first three species reach terminations in nearby northern drainages 
(Table 4), it is possible that their absence in these intermediate rivers 
merely reflects the irregular distribution pattern often observed at the 
periphery of a species’ range. Enneacanthus chaetodon is often absent from 
habitats for which it is seemingly well-suited and its distribution is spotty 
throughout most of its range (Jenkins et al. 1975; Burgess et al. 1977). 
Enneacanthus chaetodon is likely to be discovered in one or more of these 
drainages with further collecting. We have two records of Pomoxis 
nigromaculatus from the Newport drainage, but since both are from a single 
pond (Mill Pond) owned by a fishing club, we suspect introduction. 
Although P. nigromaculatus is a common lowland form in much of North 
Carolina (Table 4), its apparent absence in these three coastal drainages 
may prove real. < 
The remaining 20 species’ distributions are perhaps more easily ex- 
plained. Most species involved are forms that prefer swifter flowing, up- 
land streams, habitats which are scarce or absent in the New, White Oak, 
and Newport drainages. The 30 meter high stand in sea level (repre- 
sented today by the Wicomico Shoreline or Surry Scarp, Fig. 2) that oc- 
curred in the Pleistocene may have influenced the distribution of these 
fishes. The area occupied by the present-day Shallotte, New, White Oak, 
