Carolina Madtom 
63 
generally does not yield specimens. Gradients are moderate and stream 
temperatures in summer are warm (diurnal maxima greater than 20° C). 
Submersed macrophytes are generally absent; the Carolina madtom 
does not appear to be strongly associated with emergent vegetation, 
although small patches of vegetation may occasionally be present in 
prime habitat. Water is generally clear to coffee-colored. 
A large majority of records are from medium to large streams, 
i.e., the Neuse and Tar rivers proper and the lower reaches of their 
major tributaries. Most records from small streams are within a few 
kilometers of the mouth and may represent forays of individuals, or 
populations largely reliant upon recruitment from main rivers. 
Stream sections inhabited have riffles, runs, and pools with N. 
furiosus found during warm months in or near swift current; depth 
usually 0.3 to 1.0 m. Young and juveniles tend to occupy shallower 
riffles and runs in slower current than adults, although overlap is 
typical. Habitat during cool months is unknown, but there is no reason 
to suspect it would be strikingly different from that occupied during the 
warm months. Common substrates in well-populated streams are leaf 
litter, sand, gravel, and small rubble. The Carolina madtom occupies all 
these substrates, but is most frequently taken over sand mixed with pea- 
or medium-sized gravel and in leaf litter. In the lower Tar and Neuse 
rivers, the species is frequently taken from debris piles in sandy areas. 
The habitat of adult madtoms during the nesting season (May-July) 
is in areas of moderate to slow flow where there is an abundance of cover 
for nesting sites (e.g., beer and soda cans, bottles, mussel shells, flat 
rocks, and stick piles). Because guardian males usually have empty 
stomachs (Table 2), it is assumed they rarely leave a nest site to forage. 
This may, in part, explain why collections made during the breeding 
season often miss adult madtoms unless nesting sites are found or 
ichthyocides are used. 
Taylor (1969) noted that specimens taken from near the Fall Line 
were collected in swift water about 1 m in depth over a gravel-rubble 
bottom, whereas those taken on the Coastal Plain were in very shallow 
water with little or no current over sand and small gravel. Our 
observations of habitat agree closely with those of Taylor. 
Distribution, Abundance, and Population Status 
Noturus furiosus is known from the Neuse and Tar river drainages 
of North Carolina (Fig. 2), occurring both above and below the Fall 
Line. Extant populations of the fish are presently known with certainty 
from 17 localities (Fig. 3-4). Generally, the species is rare or uncommon, 
but this may relate to inadequate sampling of appropriate habitat and 
lack of collections made after dusk. It has been taken with regularity in 
