116 
Fred C. Rohde, George H. Burgess, G. William Link, Jr. 
and Newport rivers and most of the Northeast Cape Fear River was inun- 
dated by encroaching seas; colonization by stream fishes began as the sea 
regressed and rivers developed. Most species with preferences for slow- 
moving, lowland waters were probably able to enter these newly develop- 
ing systems, but others with upland affinities undoubtedly found the 
ecological conditions unsuitable and never became established. 
The distribution of Fundulus diaphanus diaphanus , a secondary freshwater 
species (Myers 1938, 1951) that tolerates brackish waters, is not ex- 
plainable by lack of upland habitat. Flowever, F. d. diaphanus prefers 
gravel or sand bottoms and avoids areas of heavy siltation (Shapiro 1947), 
and most lowland North Carolina rivers are heavily silted. In addition, 
the species is at the southern periphery of its range in North Carolina, 
and records are few south of the Neuse River. Ictalurus punctatus is similarly 
distributed, but the extensive introductions of this species throughout its 
range prevents assigning any significance to the pattern. 
The diversity of fishes in the Croatan National Forest is quite high 
compared to studies made on other Coastal Plain regions. Jenkins et al. 
(1975) found 25 species in the Dismal Swamp and 43 species in the 
Chowan system on the Coastal Plain. Both areas are considerably larger 
than Croatan National Forest. 
At present there is little evidence of degradation of the Forest waters, 
and with proper management practices these waters should continue to 
support a diverse ichthyofauna. 
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.— We would like to thank R. G. Arndt, J. E. 
Cooper, C. R. Gilbert, D. S. Lee, S. W. Ross, and F. J. Schwartz for their 
helpful comments for improvement of the manuscript. Many people 
assisted with the collecting; we especially thank D. E. Fast and S. W. 
Ross. J. G. Lundberg and students assisted with several collections. A. F. 
Chestnut and F. J. Schwartz of the Institute of Marine Sciences - Univer- 
sity of North Carolina provided equipment and vehicles. J. B. Sullivan of 
Duke University Marine Laboratory and J. R. Bailey of Duke University 
provided information on collections in their care. W. M. Palmer allowed 
access to the fish collections at the North Carolina State Museum of 
Natural History. E. F. Menhinick graciously permitted us to review his 
unpublished distribution maps of North Carolina fishes. 
Most of this work was carried out while the authors were at the In- 
stitute of Marine Sciences - University of North Carolina. 
