Okefenokee Swamp Vertebrates 
49 
Quercus niger; and live oak, Quercus virginiana. 
The uplands surrounding the swamp are intensively managed pine 
forests. Historically, the area was dominated by longleaf and slash pine 
with an understory dominated by saw palmetto, Serenoa repens; small 
gallberry. Ilex glabra; and various forbs and grasses. Fire was the major 
factor maintaining successional stages (Monk 1968). Today the uplands 
are dominated by slash pine plantations with a similiar understory 
managed by prescribed periodic burns. Remnants of hardwood and 
mixed hardwood-pine forests are very limited but occur in scattered loca- 
tions on some islands and at the periphery of the swamp. Management 
for pine, including prescribed burns, is responsible for the virtual absence 
of hardwoods in the uplands. 
FISHES 
Historical Foundations 
Scientific collections of fishes in the Okefenokee Swamp span 68 
years. The earliest significant collections were undertaken in 1912 by 
A.H. Wright and Francis Harper, both from Cornell University. The ac- 
count of Palmer and Wright (1920), based primarily on these collections, 
represents the only published information on fishes of the swamp. Subse- 
quent collections, resulting from various museum expeditions and the ac- 
tivities of Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge (ONWR) personnel, 
were made by R.A. Chesser in 1922, R.T. Berryhill in 1924, T. 
Reichelderfer in 1935, M.S. Verner, Jr. in 1936, B. Cadbury in 1937, C.B. 
Obrecht and M. Godfrey in 1941, H.A. Carter in 1941-1942, Southern 
Piedmont and Coastal Plain Survey in 1941, T. Rodenberry in 1941, and 
R.J. Fleetwood in 1947. Collecting activities ceased in the 1950s and 
began again in the 1960s (E. Cypert in 1960, 1963; T. Cavender in 1965; 
and M.W. Bohlke in 1966), and have continued to the present (B.J. 
Freeman, 1978-1980). Additional studies in the southeastern lower 
Coastal Plain (Gassaway 1976; Holder and German 1977) contributed 
much to existing knowledge of swamp ichthyofauna. Voucher specimens 
of significant collections are deposited in the National Museum of 
Natural History, Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences, Cornell 
University, University of Georgia Museum of Natural History, and Uni- 
versity of Michigan Museum of Zoology. 
Comparison With Regional Fauna 
The ichthyofauna of Okefenokee Swamp consists of 36 species 
representing 13 families (Table 1). The most remarkable character of the 
fauna is the absence of minnows (Cyprinidae). The remaining fish fauna 
is not substantially different from adjacent southeastern drainages. 
Average faunal resemblance values (Ramsey 1965) were computed for 
Okefenokee Swamp and major drainages in the area. Values can range 
