TPWD 1955 F-7-R-3 #176: Laboratory and Statistical Analyses of Materials and Data Collected in the Field: Buffalo Lake and Little Wichita River, Texas, Segment Completion Report

STATE Texas PROJECT NO. FTR3, JOb Bun PERIOD June 1, 1955 m May 31, 1955 Segment Completion Report Leo D. Lewis, Project Leader Walter W. Dalquest, Assistant Project Leader TITLE Laboratory and Statistical Analyses of Materials and Data Collected in the Field. OBJECTIVES 1. To determine the following from laboratory examination of field-collected specimens and data: a. Food Habits. b. Sexual development and spawning success. c. Comparative physical condition (Coefficient of Condition). 2. To determine pepulation estimates and trends from field data. TECHNIQUES Data for item 1, above, was obtained by field collections, field notes, and laboratory studies. Techniques are explained in full detail in the following pages. Population estimates and trends (item 2, above) were determined in the field with the aid of gillmnets, seines and rotenone collections. This information for the concerned waters, Buffalo Lake and the Little Wichita River, has been reported elsewhere (Completion Reports, Job Bm9, and Jobs Aw3 and Bm8, combined, respectively}. BACKGROUND This is the third segment completion report on this job. The first {F7R1) covered data obtained from Lake Diversion, Lake Kemp and Lake Kickapoo. The second (F732) included Lake Wichita and the Big Wichita River. With the inclusion of Buffalo Lake and the Little Wichita River in the present report, the volume of data, all collected in similar fashion and strictly comparable, becomes especially valuable. FOQD HABITS _ Stomachs of predacious fishes were examined in the field by opening the body wall and squeezing the stomach between thumaand forefinger. Bulk of the stomach alone did not prove the presence of food, because some fishes, especially catfishes, swallow water when captured and their stomachs may be greatly distended although free of food. If solid materials are felt through the wall of the stomach, a thread is tied tightly around the base of the esophagus and another is tied around the duodenum, and the stomach_ out free. A label is tied to the stomach, stating locality and date of capture, species of fish, sex, length and weight. A fan'small holes are punched in the stomach wall, and the organ is drgpped into a container of formalin solution, to be opened in the laboram tory at a later date. In the laboratory, the stomach to be opened is first soaked in water for several hours. Then the label is removed and the label data written at the top of a sheet of paper. The stomach is slit completely open and the contents washed into a small, white enamel pan. The contents are examined, identified and noted on the proper sheet of paper. Materials were not recorded unless identification was reasonably certain. Statements such as "unidentifiable fish remains" are meaning» less, because all predacious fishes are presumed to eat other fishes. Because the aquatic fauna, both vertebrate and invertebrate, of Buffalo Lake and the Little Wichita River are different, food habits of fishes from each area are discussed separately. Hiodon alosoides m Goldeye. Seven specimens containing food were taken, all from the Little Wichita River. These stomachs contained remains of insects only. This is rather surprising on two counts. First, the fishes managed to find consider- able insect food even in the winter months, when supposedly few insects were present. Second, the goldeye does eat fishes on occasion because many are taken by fishermen using minnows for bait. Perhaps the goldeyes attack fishes only when the latter are injured. A goldeye taken July 28, 1955, contained only a large shorthorn grasshopper. Five specimens taken November 23, 1955, contained food as follows: (1) finely-divided insect remains, including a large grasshopper, 2 blue-bottle flies, l robber fly, 1 care abid beetle, and 1 stinkbug; (2) considerable finelywdivided and unidentifiable insect remains and 1 large tiger beetle, 2 lady beetles, tor 5 chrysomelid beetles and a stinkbug; (3) crammed with insect remains, not as finely chewed as numbers 1 and 2, including l large yellowmjacket, 1 large assassin bug (wheelbug), 3 or 5 small phalaenid moths and a grasshOpper5 (t) 1 grasshOpper, 2 phalaenid moths, 1 house fly, 1 mayfly larva and several tiny insects too digested to identify; (5) crammed to bulging with 35 phalaenid moths, all of the same species and the some as contained in numbers 3 and above. - A fish taken march 29, 1956, contained only two species of insects but was filled to bulging. The catch included 11 carabid beetles and 9 tiger beetles. Ictalurus pgnctatus - Channel Catfish. Arthropods and fishes were the principal food eaten by channel catfish in both Buffalo Lake and the Little Wichita River. in general, smaller fishes fed more extensively on insects and larger individuals ate more fishes. Details are shown in the following two tables. Table 1. Food of Channel Catfish in the Little Wichita River. -.mm Food Item. Frequency of Occurrence Total Whmber Identified Gizsard Shad (__§Qsomg) Carpsucker (1.3,? Crappie C: gu" Grasshopper (Orth0pt era) Dragonfly (Odonata) Ciccada Homo tera) Crayfish (Precambrus) letnneeeleteauso IDLNIAIH\fiI4EDID Note: In addition to the above materials, the following was found: two catfish had swallowed a number of large scales of individual fishes far too large to have been prey of the catfishos. The catfish that had eaten the dragonfly larva also held a large wad of algae that might have been swallowed inadvertently along with the larva. Table 2. Food of Channel Catfish in Buffalo Lake. Food Item. Frequency of occurrence Total Number Identified Lizard (Holbrookia) Giszard Shad iDorosoma) Carpsucker (Ca iodesj Carp (Cyprinus E GoldfishHCCarassius) Shiner (Notropisi Bullhead (Amaiarta) Damselfly (bhonata) Grasshopper ZOrthoptera) Cricket (Orthontena) “‘ Stinkbug {Hemiptera) Carabid Beetle (Coleoptera) Blister Beetle (Coleeptera) House Fly (Dipterai Heney Bee (HymenOptera) Hl-‘U'JH l4l4{Didi4t4-4b4idl4r0+4}4\nt4 FJF‘UJFJFJFJLUFJEJIJIU Note: In addition to the above, the following trash was found: fish scales in 6 stomachs, an old, dried pectoral fin of a fish in l, and algae in 3. Pilodictus olivaris w Flathead Catfish. One specimen from the Little Wichita River contained two small Qorosoma cepediangm and.many scales that seemed to be from a carpsucker. .A second individual contained a complete crappie (genomic) about six inches in length. Our only full stomach from Buffalo Lake held two small gizzard shed and a small crawling water beetle. The insect may have been swallowed by accident, bem cause all our other data indicates that the flathead catfish feeds exclusively on fishes. Ameiurus melas w Black Bullhead. Two specimens from.the Little Wichita River contained food. One held a small carpsucker, about two and onewhalf inches long, and the other held a freshlyeswallowed grasshopper. Morons chrysOps m White Bass. The only specimen with food in its stomach came from the Little Wichita River. It contained a single silvery plains minnow (Hybognathus) that may have been a bait minnow. Micropterus salmoides m Largemouth Black Bass. Large specimens of the black bass are usually pisciverous. Two specimens from the Little Wichita River held fish in their stomahcs: one, an orangemspotted sunfish (Lepomis Hhmilis) and the other, a small bullhead, probably Ameiurus melee. we obtained nine filled stomachs in Buffalo Lake that contained identifiable fish remains: eight held one gizzard shad (Dorosoma), no held a small goldfish in addition to a shad, and one held a small white bass Emorone a Exceps). Pomoxis annularis w White Crappie. Many crappie with filled stomachs were taken, but in many instances the food present could not be identified beyond the obvious fact that it was fish remains. In the Little Wichita River, seven stomachs contained a total of ll gizzadr dhad (Dorosoma); one contained a small sunfish with a deep body, probably Lepomis megalotis; two contained a total of three grass shrimp (Palemanotes); one contained four tiny insects, possibly mosquitos. Food items found in crappie from Buffalo Lake are shown.in de following table. Table 3. Food of White Crappie from Buffalo Lake Food Item Frequency of Occurrence Total Number Identified Giszard Shad (lorosoma) 19 2h Goldfish (Caressiusi l l Shiner (NotrOpis5 5 ll Sunfish (Lepomis) l l Crappie (Pomoxis) l l Grasshopper (Ort hoptera) l 2 Backswimmer (Hemipterai l l Note: One large crappie contained the pectoral fin of another large crappie, freshly severed with a knife and obviously scrap from a fisherman's catch. SEXUAL DEVELOPMENT AND SPAWNING SUCCESS Larger fishes were Opened in the field and their gonads examined and the stage of development recorded. If the gonads were of mediumesize or smaller, and were poorlym developed, they Were recorded as ”immature.“ If they were large and welludevelOped, obviously approaching spawning condition, they were termed "ripe." In those few instances where a ftsh was captured shortly after spawning, it was called "spent.“ The latter condition is difficult to determine in males but easier in females. Immature individuals of the larger fishes were taken in seine drags and measured and counted. In addition, notes were made of schools of fry seen, young fishes found in the stomachs of predacious fishes, etc. When ovaries contained large eggs, nearly ready to be spawned, the two ovaries of such a fish were carefully removed, labeled and preserved in formalin. In the laboratory, the ovaries were carefully cleaned of excess tissues and weighed to the nears est onewtenth of a gram. Thenla small quantity, roughly a gram, was shipped from one Ovary and weighed on a chemical balance to the nearest onemone hundredth of a gram. The eggs in the small portion were then counted and the total number of eggs present in the two ovaries estimated (number of eggs counted times weight of both ovaries divided by the weight of the small section) Leeisosteus.osseus w Longnosed Gar. Females of large size from the Little Wichita River were listed as "ripe" from February through September. The main spawning season comes in early June and growth of the young is rapid. In July, they are scarcely larger in diameter than a lead pencil, but in August, they range from 9 to ll inches in length. A sevenminch specimen as thick as a man‘s thumb was taken June 25. 5. Lepisosteus platostomus - Shortnosed Gar. Little information was gained on this species this year. A female taken May 15, was recorded as "spent," but this might nave been an error. A large female taken October 16, was “ripe." No fry or young were taken in seine drags. Dorosoma cepedianum — Gizzard Shad. Shad become ”ripe" as early as mideay but the major spawning season is mid-June. The youngwofuthe-year are common in may and June and become abundant in July. There are usually a few offwseason spawns that some» times are quite successful. Hiodon alosoides - Goldeye. Mbst adult female goldeyes were ripe from January to May in the lower Little Wichita River. Not only were the eggs large, but even a mod: eratelyufirm squeeze would force separated eggs from the cloaca. There was every evid- ence of spawning, and a few fish were even recorded as "spent." Nevertheless, we did not actually find goldeyes spawning, and much coining failed to take goldeye fry. Ictiobus bubalus w Smallmouth Buffalo. A few ripe females were taken in May, but no fry or young were captured in the past project year. Ictiobus cyprinellus a Bigmouth Buffalo. Three females, one taken in November, one in December and one in January, were all recorded as “ripe." No other information about the spawning of the species was obtained this year. Oarpiodes carpio m River Oarpsucker. The principal spawn of this fish occurs in May, June and sometimes early July. A fair number of individuals are in spawning condition at almost every time of the year. Young carpsuckers also are found every month of the year. prrinus carpio w European Carp. The carp usually become ripe in may, but actual spawning seems to be deferred until the spring rains raise the water level. The Spawning season of this species is quite uniform in our area. Oarassius auratus m Goldfish. There is some overlap in the spawning seasons of the carp and the goldfish, but in Buffalo Lake, most of the carp have completed spawning before the goldfish begin. Oarassius E prrinus m OarpmGoldfish Hybrid. A very few ripe female hybrids were taken in Buffalo Lake in late May. Ictalurus punctatus m Channel Catfish. The main spawn of this species occurs in late June in our waters, and sometimes later. Some young channel catfish, only an inch or so long, are taken as late as August. Ameiurus melas ~ Black Bullhead Catfish. No ripe females were taken during the project year, but fry were found in late May. In August, the young were about one and onemhalf inches long at Kickapoo Station; in September, two inches long; in October three inches long. These were not found on later visits to the same locality. Pilodictus olivaris w Flathead Catfish. Spent females were taken at Lake Kickapoo on may 15. Ripe females were taken at Buffalo Lake in August. Young flatheads, two to three inches long, were taken at Henrietta Station in September. Mbrone chrysops - White Bass. The major white bass spawn came in mideay this past year. we found no out-ofwseason spawners this year. Microptcrus salmoides - Largemouth Black Bass. Large black bass were almost all ripe in lets say of the project year. Spawning probably did not occur until well into June. Pomoxis annularis — White Crappie. In the past project year, the main crappie spawn came in midmApril, and only an occasional ripe female was found after that date. Table #. Reproductive Potential Length of Fish weight of Fish Total Number of Eggs DOROSOMA,CEPEDIANWM 296 381 109,760 29# #01 3#,#25 290 #10 ##,886 295 .th 121.375 295 #56 68,266 309 #80 201,119 HIODON ALOSOIDES 290 2#8 189,321 295 #32 152,2#0 300 #66 1#1,566 298 598 212,596 CARPIODES CARPIO 3M5 1,280 300.955 367 i,#60 359,068 382 2.000 877.509 #36 3,025 551,045 CYPRINUS CARPIO 281!- 575 1.22.553 310 670 82,861 308 680 576,627 305 700 3&8;135 300 715 122,0#O 320 760 ‘ 377.696 330 890 82,#08 330 925 100,016 31.5 1,050 137.101 #75 2,230 275.#01 GARASSIUS AURATUS 280 727 7h;887 Table #. (Continued) Length of Fish 305 308 295 312 310 295 330 3#0 3#0 3#8 355 360 359 365 385 370 5#0 520 #00 852 273 300 326 328 330 323 3#0 335 350 335 393 359 350 375 355 370 3oz weight of Fish ICTALURUS PUNCTATUS 475 500 525 560 575 590 700 705 710 755 750 800 810 1,003 1,110 1,2#5 1,260 3.710 3.900 PILDDICTUS OLIVARIS l,#00 15.207 MICROPTERUS SALMOIDES 600 655 1,060 1,070 1.095 1,103 1,125 1,17# 1.175 1,205 1,2#0 1,250 1,#25 1,##0 1,500 1.550 1, 660 1, 660 1,790 Total Number of Eggs. # ,#70 7.576 6,518 7. 738 5. 937 6,820 8.717 6,338 9:657 8gm8 6,802 9.835 7.055 12,186 2#,810 11,23# 8,127 26,160 23, 762 5.501 33.765 29,11# 55.t97 6#,#25 82,023 55.t96 81,079 96,361 116,229 115.073 52.a80 62,580 105, 709 99.977 55.523 25, 689 11a .595 112, 778 60.155 176,000 Table 5. (Continued) Length of Fish weight of Fish Total NUmber of Eggs MICROPTERUS SALMOIDES 398 1,820 75,029 385 1,825 129,200 390 1,850 116,867 95 1.960 55.200 #60 2,030 1#5.780 #00 2,100 85,8#3 398 2.3.55 209.6611 #25 2,500 86,708 405 2.900 122.937 #20 2,900 152,880 POMDXIS ANNULARIS 203 208 36,080 190 219 #7,##0 196 251 #3,887 19# 263 80,#22 195 272 36,300 198 278 26,000 196 280 53.371 205 280 79.239 200 300 l#5,800 202 315 37.787 197 317 63.196 203 351 175.950 216 #07 #5,819 228 ##2 8#,920 228 ##5 27,026 228 #50 211,6#1 27# 6#5 82,588 226 650 20,#36 282 875 167,760 CQEFFICIENT OF CONDITION "K” factors were worked out for all of the larger fishes taken in Buffalo Lake and the Little Wichita River. Not all of the fishes taken are listed in the following tables, because some immature animals are rejected and approximately one fish out of each hundred was recorded erroneously, resulting in ridiculous "K" factors. Some striking differences are noted in the comparison of the factors of fishes from Buffalo Lake and the Little Wichita River. The carpsuckers from the Panhandle lake are extremely large and have large ”K" factors, far greater than those fnmn the Little Wichita River. On the other hand, gizzard shed and European carp from ths lake are in poor condition as compared with fish from the river. 9. Table 5. Distributiolof "K" Factors for the Little Wichita River. ________al.___________a_.____________________________a____________w_l_l_____________lm_ Lepisosteus osseus factor .3 .# .5 males 4 #2 18 females m 10 6 Lepisosteus productus factor .5 .6 .7 .8 .9 males 1 3 6 1 1 females - 2 l 1 l Dorosoma cepedianum factor 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.# 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 males 1 # 5 10 12 25 13 13 10 6 # 1 2 1 females 3 9 5 l3 19 29 23 27 18 20 15 9 5 - Hiodon alosoides factor 1.3 1.# 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 2.0 males 1 - 22 35 18 8 1 - females 1 # 8 12 15 7 2 2 Ictiobus 3353125 factor 2.8 2.9 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.# 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 3.9 #.0 males 1 2 3 1 5 6 3 9 1 - 3 - 1 females m a 2 2 2 - l 2 l l l w - Ictiobus cyprinellus factor 2.9 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.# 3.5 3.6 males - 2 w l 2 1 m 1 females 1 - — - 1 a a l 10. Table 5. Distribution of "K" Factors for the Little Wichita River. Oarpiodes carpio factor 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.# 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 2.9 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.# 3.5 3.6 malesle51718292515252275955- females 2 - 1 # 9 12 17 16 26 18 18 6 11 6 1 5 Cflrinus sag. io factor 2.3 2.# 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 2.9 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 males 1 - # 5 8 6 6 2 1 1 2 females 1 - # 7 5 8 2 # 2 2 — Ictalurus punctatus factor 1.3 1.# 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 2.0 2.1 males _ 1 1 # # 2 1 1 - females 1 - 1 7 5 3 1 3 2 Ameiurus melas factor 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.# 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 2.9 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.# 3.5 males 2 # 7 3 3 1 1 - - - - 1 1 _ 1 females 1 _ # - 1 2 1 2 _ - - 1 - ~ 1 Pilodictus olivaris factor 1.3 1.# 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 females 1 m n - l _ 2 Mbrone chrysops factor 1.9 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.# 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 2.9 3.0 males 1 - l 1 l 5 h 7 8 10 5 3 females a - n 1 u w 3 # 8 9 1 l