An Update of the Ichthyofauna of West Virginia with Notes on Historic Sportfish Stockings

Daniel A. Cincotta^1,* and Stuart A. Welsh²

¹West Virginia Division of Natural Resources, Elkins, WV 26241 (Retired). ²US Geological Survey, West Virginia Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, PO Box 6125, Morgantown, WV 26506. *Corresponding author.

Northeastern Naturalist, Volume 31, Monograph 24 (2024): 1–48

First published online: 22 June 2024

Abstract
The management and conservation of faunas at regional scales depend on current data on species diversity and distribution. Relative to the ichthyofauna of West Virginia, few studies have recently documented the richness and distribution of fishes in the state, with even the most comprehensive publications rarely discussing either the conservation status of individual fishes or historical sportfish stockings. In this paper, we review the state’s historic sportfish stockings. We also clarify inconsistent published data and present new information for several species, delete 3 species from the West Virginia ichthyofaunal list, and add 35 species representing extant or extirpated populations. Lastly, we provide a checklist of 195 species by major drainage of West Virginia’s fishes, including their origin (i.e., native or introduced).

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