Young fish distribution in backwaters and main-channel borders of the Kanawha River, West Virginia |
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Authors: | M T Scott L A Nielsen |
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Institution: | Department of Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Virginia 24061, U.S.A. |
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Abstract: | Fish in the Kanawha River were collected with a 0.5-m plankton net in main-channel borders and in open areas of backwaters and with a 1-m2 enclosed dropbox in shallow backwater habitats. Larval emerald shiners, Notropis atherinoides , were twice as dense, and gizzard shad, Dorosoma cepedianum , 2.5 times as dense in main-channel borders as in backwaters; larval Lepomis spp. were 20 times as dense in backwaters as in main-channel borders. Smaller Lepomis larvae used open-water backwater areas primarily; larger larvae migrated to vegetated backwater habitats later in the summer. Backwaters appear crucial for the maintenance of nest-building fish species in temperate rivers, just as floodplains are necessary for the maintenance of high species diversity in tropical rivers. |
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Keywords: | larval fish backwaters large rivers Lepomis Notropis atherinoides Dorosoma cepedianum |
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