Carolina Madtom 
79 
Fig. 7. Lateral view of 9.5-mm TL larva of Noturus furiosus (SIUC 1 1775). 
Drawing by Karen L. Fiorino. 
contrast, percentages of the larger-sized odonate nymphs in the diet 
increased from 5.1 to 6.6 to 30.4 with increasing size of the madtom. 
Comparisons of spring and summer diets are shown in Figure 8. 
Elmid larvae were a significant food organism in the spring, but were 
negligible in the summer samples. Simuliid larvae were present only in 
summer collections, and the percentages of ephemeropteran nymphs 
and trichopteran larvae increased in the madtom’s diet in summer. The 
abundance of chironomid larvae and odonate nymphs in the diet of N. 
furiosus was unaffected by the changing seasons. 
It appears that N. furiosus , like other madtoms, is a nocturnal, 
benthic insectivore. All madtoms studied to date are taste feeders and 
are morphologically equipped for taste feeding with numerous gustatory 
structures. 
DISCUSSION 
Historically, at least 24 distinct localities of occurrence of N. 
furiosus have been recorded based on extant voucher material. Additional 
literature records (Bayless and Smith 1962, Smith and Bayless 1964) 
bring the total to 36. We have revisited all but ten of these sites since 
1982. Nine sites in the Neuse River drainage and six in the Tar River 
drainage have not yielded specimens. Several of these sites were too 
flooded for adequate sampling and may harbor extant populations (e.g., 
Fishing Creek). In addition, we discovered seven new populations of N. 
furiosus in the Tar and Neuse River drainages in 1984 and 1985, 
indicating that successful and substantial reproduction has taken place 
in recent years. 
Prior to our field work in 1985, N. furiosus was considered to be a 
rare species. This judgement was the general consensus of several 
ichthyologists who had tried to collect the species in the 1970s and 
