Dedicated to the Conservation of Southeastern Fishes 2002 Report
of Region 3 - North-Central Status surveys and other interesting
finds Bill McLarney reported an interesting find as a result of
surveys in the Little Tennessee River system upstream of Fontana
Reservoir. He noted that surveys conducted during September-
November of 2000 and 2001 have shown a hitherto unsuspected
migration of the threatened spotfin chub, Erimonax (=Cyprinella)
monachus up tributaries of the Little Tennessee River in Swain
and Macon Counties, North Carolina. The conventional wisdom has
been that this species is almost exclusively a mainstem
inhabitant. A very few individuals, mostly juveniles, have been
found in three tributary streams during the spring and summer:
Over a period of 12 years (1990-2001), 32 summer IBI samples in
the lower reaches of 18 tributaries to the reach of the Little
Tennessee known to harbor this species have turned it up on just
one occasion. However it has recently been shown that in the
fall, spotfin chu