N19 2013 Northeastern Naturalist Notes Vol. 20, No. 4 S.A. Welsh, D.A. Cincotta, and W.C. Starnes First Records of Nocomis biguttatus (Hornyhead Chub) from West Virginia Discovered in Museum Voucher Specimens Stuart A. Welsh1,*, Daniel A. Cincotta2, and Wayne C. Starnes3 Abstract - Specimens of Nocomis biguttatus (Hornyhead Chub) from South Fork Hughes River (Little Kanawha River drainage, WV) were discovered in two museum lots at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences. These accessions, collected in 1960 and 1966, represent an addition to the state fauna and are the first distribution records for this species from the Appalachian Plateau, WV. Nocomis biguttatus (Kirtland) (Hornyhead Chub) is one of three species in the Nocomis biguttatus species group, which also includes Nocomis asper Lachner and Jenkins (Redspot Chub) and Nocomis effusus Lachner and Jenkins (Redtail Chub) (Lachner and Jenkins 1971a, Mayden 1987, Nagle and Simons 2012). Hornyhead Chub is widely distributed within glaciated regions of the upper Mississippi River drainage (Page and Burr 2011). Additionally, isolated populations of this species are known from the following drainages: to the west, in the Platte River system in Colorado, Nebraska, and Wyoming, and the Cheyenne River system in Wyoming (Jenkins and Lachner 1980); to the south, in the Ozark Highlands (Jenkins and Lachner 1980); and to the southeast, in Elkhorn Creek of the lower Kentucky River drainage in Kentucky (Burr and Warren 1986, Lachner and Jenkins 1967). In the eastern portion of its distribution, Hornyhead Chub occurs in previously glaciated areas. Lachner and Jenkins (1971b) emphasized that the eastern distribution of Hornyhead Chub coincides with postglacial drainages north of the Ohio River. Dispersal via glacial meltwaters may explain the occurrence of the species in previously glaciated portions of Ohio, Pennsylvania, and NewYork (Hocutt et al. 1986). During the early 1900s, Hornyhead Chub was widely distributed in the formerly glaciated region of western and northern Ohio, but many populations had been extirpated by 1950 (Trautman 1981). However, the species was rarely found south of the glacial boundary in the Appalachian Plateau of eastern Ohio (Hocutt et al. 1986, Trautman 1981). Based on the geographic location of populations in southeastern Ohio, Stauffer et al. (1995) expected Hornyhead Chub to occur in nearby drainages of the Ohio River within northern West Virginia, but the species had not been previously documented from that area. Distribution records of Hornyhead Chub from Elkhorn Creek of the lower Kentucky River drainage represent the only documented localities from tributaries south of the Ohio River. Lachner and Jenkins (1967, 1971a) speculated that the Elkhorn Creek records represent a bait-bucket introduction. Hornyhead Chub occurs in small- to medium-sized streams with a low to moderate gradient (Lachner and Jenkins 1971a). It is known from clear-water streams with sand, gravel, and cobble substrates, and aquatic vegetation; it does not usually occur in turbid or silt-laden streams (Lachner and Jenkins 1971a, Scott and Crossman 1973, Trautman 1981). Although it is primarily insectivorous, Hornyhead Chub also feeds on aquatic vegetation, particularly filamentous algae (Lachner 1950). This species, like all members of Nocomis, constructs gravel-mound nests and can be a keystone species by providing suitable spawning sites for other fishes (Vives 1990). 1US Geological Survey, West Virginia Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, 322 Percival Hall, Morgantown, WV 26506. 2West Virginia Division of Natural Resources, POB 67, Ward Road, Elkins, WV 26241. 3North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, Research Lab, MSC 1626, Raleigh, NC 27699. *Corresponding author - swelsh@wvu.edu. Notes of the Northeastern Naturalist, Issue 20/4, 2013 2013 Northeastern Naturalist Notes Vol. 20, No. 4 N20 S.A. Welsh, D.A. Cincotta, and W.C. Starnes We discovered two records of Hornyhead Chub from the Appalachian Plateau, WV (Fig. 1) during examination of specimens at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences (NCSM), Raleigh, NC, which were formerly held at the University of North Carolina Institute of Marine Sciences (UNC-IMS), Morehead City, NC, and prior to that, at West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV. One lot included three individuals, 74–98 mm standard length (SL), including a 98-mm SL tuberculate male (Fig. 2; NCSM 72975, formerly UNC-IMS 6943) labeled as Nocomis micropogon (Cope), River Chub. We identified them as Hornyhead Chub based on their distinctive tuberculation pattern and other characters (per Lachner and Jenkins 1967). David Robinson and Ronald Preston collected these specimens on 27 June 1960 from the South Fork Hughes River (Little Kanawha River drainage), at 0.8 km (0.5 mi) below the Ritchie-Doddridge county line. This site is approximately 0.8 km (0.5 mi) downstream of Oxford, WV. Furthermore, two misidentified (also as N. micropogon) individuals of Hornyhead Chub, 37- and 70-mm SL, were collected by Frank Schwartz and Benjamin Dutcher on 3 Sept 1966 from the South Fork Hughes River, 4.5 km (2.8 mi) east of Smithville, Ritchie County, WV (NCSM 72962, formerly UNC-IMS Figure 1. Collection locations for Nocomis biguttatus (Hornyhead Chub) in South Fork Hughes River of the Little Kanawha River, WV. Figure 2. Photograph of a preserved tuberculate-male Nocomis biguttatus (98 mm SL, NCSM 72975, formerly UNC-IMS 6943) from South Fork Hughes River, 0.8 km below the Ritchie-Doddridge County line, WV, 27 June 1960. N21 2013 Northeastern Naturalist Notes Vol. 20, No. 4 S.A. Welsh, D.A. Cincotta, and W.C. Starnes 6699). A third specimen (88-mm SL) in this lot was deemed to be correctly determined as N. micropogon (now cataloged as NCSM 73963), and indicates that these species may occasionally occur in syntopy. Some uncertainty exists regarding the site location of the 1960 collection. The former UNC-IMS ledger at NCSM lists site and collection information as South Fork Hughes River, 0.8 km (0.5 mi) downstream of Sanford, WV, 29 June 1960, Dave Robinson and Ron Preston. However, there is no known location of Sanford along the South Fork Hughes River, or anywhere else within the Little Kanawha River drainage. A typed survey form, filed at the WV Division of Natural Resources (WVDNR) Operations Center, Elkins, WV, lists site and collection information as South Fork Hughes River, 0.8 km (0.5 mi) below the Ritchie-Doddridge county line, 27 June 1960, Dave Robinson and Ron Preston. This survey sheet indicates that rotenone was used as a sampling method, and lists a record of Hybopsis biguttata (Nocomis biguttatus). It also reports that the rotenone kill continued downstream of the blocking net, and led to a confrontation with local law enforcement officials. Ron Preston (US Environmental Protection Agency, Wheeling, WV, retired,, pers. comm.) remembered the collection and ensuing incident well, and was fairly certain that following such an incident, the second survey mentioned in the specimen documentation was not conducted. We speculate that “Sanford” is an incorrect transcription of “Oxford”, and that the 27 June 1960 and 29 June 1960 records represent the same collection. Some uncertainty also exists regarding the site location of the 1966 collection. The UNC-IMS museum ledger and Schwartz’s handwritten field notes indicate that the site location was South Fork Hughes River, east of Beatrice, WV, on Rt. 47. On the field notes, Schwartz added that the site was “2.8 mi east of Smithville”. The towns of Beatrice and Smithville are both adjacent to the South Fork Hughes River and Rt. 47. Smithville is approximately 4.5 km (2.8 mi) east-southeast of Beatrice. The location documented as 4.5 km (2.8 mi) east of Smithville is on the South Fork Hughes River, a location that could be accessed from county Rt. 47/11, but which is not adjacent to Rt. 47. The medium size and relatively low gradient of the South Fork Hughes River are similar to those of other streams with records of Hornyhead Chub. Also, aquatic vegetation, which was present at the two collection sites on the South Fork Hughes River, is often present at sites with Hornyhead Chub (Lachner 1950, Trautman 1981). Based on Robinson and Preston’s 1960 survey form, the upper site near the Ritchie-Doddridge county line was 152 m (500 ft) long, had an average stream width of 6 m (20 ft), and was 95% pool habitat. The site had an estimated substrate composition of 60% bedrock, 30% gravel, and 10% sand, and with riparian vegetation of Saggitaria spp. (arrowheads), Scirpus spp. (sedges), and Juncus spp. (rushes). Schwartz’s handwritten field notes indicate that the downstream site of the 1966 collection was 6 m (20 ft) wide, with a rock and sand bottom, and with dense filamentous algae in pools. Although south of glacial boundaries, the Little Kanawha River drainage was historically influenced by proglacial lakes. The Little Kanawha River was a large tributary to the Marietta River of the historic Teays River (Tight 1903). Hocutt et al. (1986) stated that the Little Kanawha River likely contributed to fish dispersal during two periods of proglacial impoundments, namely via Teays Lake and via Lake Monongahela. Possibly, the precursor of the Little Kanawha River served as a refuge or dispersal route for fishes during periods of Pleistocene glaciation. The records discussed herein represent an addition to the West Virginia ichthyofauna, an eastern range extension of this species on the Appalachian Plateau, and a new distributional record for the Little Kanawha River drainage. We regard Hornyhead Chub as likely native, but cannot rule out the possibility of an introduction to the South Fork Hughes River. 2013 Northeastern Naturalist Notes Vol. 20, No. 4 N22 S.A. Welsh, D.A. Cincotta, and W.C. Starnes However, if Hornyhead Chub is truly indigenous to the Little Kanawha River drainage, then records from the Kentucky River drainage may also represent a native population, and thus suggest a once broader eastern and southern Ohio River distribution of this species during or subsequent to glaciation. Despite numerous recent collections made in the Little Kanawha River basin (e.g., Stauffer et al. 1995; WVDNR, Elkins, WV, unpubl. data; R. Raesly, Frostburg State University, Frostburg, MD, unpubl. data), Hornyhead Chub has not been collected since the 1960s, and it is now likely extirpated. Acknowledgments - We thank R. Preston for discussions about his 1960 fish surveys and G.M. Hogue (NCSM) for management of relevant collections and data. Outside reviewers made several helpful comments. Any use of trade, firm, or product names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the US Government. Literature Cited Burr, B.M., and M.L. Warren. 1986. A Distributional Atlas of Kentucky Fishes. Kentucky Nature Preserves Commission, Scientific and Technical Series Number 4, Frankfort, KY. 398 pp. Hocutt, C.H., R.E. Jenkins, and J.R. Stauffer, Jr. 1986. Zoogeography of fishes of the central Appalachians and central Atlantic coastal plain. Pp. 161–211, In C.H. Hocutt and E.O. Wiley (Eds.). The Zoogeography of North American Fishes. John Wiley and Sons, New York, NY. 866 pp. Jenkins, R.E., and E.A. 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