Virginia Ictalurid Catfishes 
79 
Copper Creek RC REJ 348. 
Cumberland River drainage. — TN: East Fork Stones R. UT 48.7. 
Green River drainage. — TN: Hurricane Creek RC REJ 560. 
Coosa River drainage. — TN: Coahulla Creek UT 48.57; Mill Creek 
UT 48.56; UT 48.285. 
Mississippi River basin. — TN: backwater Mississippi R. UT 48.26. 
Hatchie River drainage. — TN: ditch UT 48.109. 
Forked Deer River drainage. — TN: Nixon Creek UT 48.249; slough 
UT 48.250. 
Red River drainage. — LA: ditch VPI 2758; Shepherd Bayou VPI 
2342. 
Sabine River drainage. — LA: Sabine R. VPI 2652. 
DISTRIBUTION 
The ictalurids with an adnexed adipose fin generally occur in 
moderate to large streams and main river channels of all physiographic 
provinces in Virginia except the Blue Ridge, from which they are essen- 
tially absent except for upper New River. Most species readily adapt to 
reservoir and farm pond habitats, and a few, notably /. catus, I.furcatus 
and /. punctatus, tolerate estuarine conditions. One species, /. brunneus, 
commonly occurs in moderate currents (Yerger and Relyea 1968; Bryant 
et al. 1979; D. Cloutman, pers. comm.) as well as sluggish currents and 
backwaters with soft bottoms (M. Corcoran, pers. comm.), which are 
typically inhabited by the remaining species. When collected during 
daylight most of these species are associated with cover such as undercut 
banks, logs and boulders. The following discussion includes considera- 
tion of native or introduced status in the drainages. 
Ictalurus brunneus. — The snail bullhead is known in the Roanoke 
drainage only from the Dan River system above Kerr Reservoir, North 
Carolina and Virginia (Fig. 1). It was first collected from the lower Dan 
in 1976 just above this reservoir, and was subsequently taken in low num- 
bers from the main channel and a few tributaries. Prior to the Dan 
records, Yerger and Relyea (1968) reported its northern limits as the up- 
per Cape Fear and Peedee River drainages. North Carolina, both adja- 
cent on the south to the Dan. 
The distributional relationship in the Roanoke drainage of /. brun- 
neus and /. platycephalus, the closest relative of /. brunneus (Lundberg 
1975), appears unique. Yerger and Relyea (1968) found that, although 
the species are broadly sympatric and occasionally syntopic in several 
drainages, /. brunneus tends to be more frequently found in, and perhaps 
differentially favors, higher gradient areas in the upper parts of those 
drainages. In the Mobile drainage, where only /. brunneus occurs, this 
species was found only in the upper section, in Georgia, over hard bot- 
tom in riffles and moderate currents (Bryant et al. 1979). Although both 
species occupy upper and lower reaches of many streams, this distribu- 
tion pattern was not regarded as atypical since higher and lower gradient 
