TPWD 1958 F-2-R-5 #368: A Basic Survey of the San Bernard River

JOB COMPLETION REPORT ' Investigations Project F‘lE State of TEXAS Project No. F2R5 Name: Fisheries Investigations and Surveys of the waters of Region 6-3. Job No. A—6 Title: A Basic Survey of the San Bernard River. Period Covered: March 11 125] through July 31, 1251 ABSTRACT A basic survey and inventory of the fish species was conducted on the San Ber- nard River. The entire stream, from its headwaters on the Austin-Colorado County line to its mouth in Brazoria County on the Gulf of Mexico, was included. The stream lies entirely within the Coastal Plain, rising in the Post Oak Belt and flowing thence through the Coastal Prairie. The upper river is an often dry or intermittent sand bottom streams The middle portion flows sluggishly between moderate to low steep—cut mud banks and the lower portion becomes brackish near West Columbia. Twenty-five species of fresh water fishes were collected during the survey and several others, including some saltwater species, are known to exist in the river. Fish- ‘ng in the upper and middle river is limited to catfish and several species of centrar~ side. A significant fishery exists in the lower reaches of the river for marine species. OBJECTIVES To gather fundamental data on the San Bernard River in regard to its physical, chemical and biological aspects and to obtain a checklist of the freshwater fish Species. METHODS Fish samples were obtained by means of small mesh seines at Station Number A, 5, T, 8, and 9 along the river (Figure.l.). Points of access by all weather roads were chosen for the survey stations. The collections were limited to stations within the freshwater portions of the stream. No collections were made in the brackish, or salt— water, portions. All specimens taken were preserved for subsequent identification and frequency of occurrence analysis. In some cases, a dominant species was so abundant at a given locality that preservation of complete collections of the Species was impracticable and under these conditions estimates of the abundance for this species were used. The identification of all fish Specimens was verified by Dr. Clark Hubbs, Department of Zoology, University of Texas. 0* Ecological notes were made at each of nine stations and the data recorded inn cluded; button type, cover, vegetation, stream width, depth, relative turbidity, pH, velo— ity and volume of flow. _ r {u d.- PHYsic'At CHARACTERISTICS The San Bernard River rises in Austin and Colorado Counties and is the bound- ary between these counties (Figure l). The river flows in a southeasterly direction along this boundary and thence as the boundary between Wharton and Fort Bend Counties and matagorda and Brazoria Counties. After flowing approximately 105 miles it empties into the Cedar Lake arm of the Gulf of Nexico. The stream originates in the Post Oak Belt near New Ulm.at an elevation of approximately 250 feet above sea level, and flows parallel to and between the much larger Colorado and Brazos Rivers. The San Bernard drains a rather narrow area of approximately 1500 square miles in the counties mentioned above. The entire stream length of the San Bernard is contained in the Coastal Plain. The headwaters lie in sandy and sand loam soils in the edge of the Post oak Belt, where post oak is the principal vegetation of the rolling plain. In this region truck farming, cotton and peanut farming and grazing are the principal land uses. Below Station No. 10, near New Ulm, the stream enters the coastal prairies where the soils are heavy clays which anelargely.grass_GOVer9d- The stream in thiE r38" ion is bordered by hickory, ash, pecan, sycamore, cypress, and willow trees. At most seasons of the year the upper stream is a dry sand bed from.the head- waters area near New Ulm to a point between Stations 10 and 9. On June 7, 1957, a sign- ificant floW'was encountered at Station 10 undoubtedly due to the unusually heavy rains and flooding which preceeded this visit to the river. On July 2h, however, the stream was dry at this point and only a small flow of approximately 5 c.f.s. was found down- stream at Station No. 9. During dry seasons the upstream limit of flow is undoubtedly much farther downstream.than this. The stream above Station No. 7 (Figures 2 and 3) near the town of East Bernard, is a wide sand stream bed, sometimes contained between cut loam banks on one or both sides and at others, gently leping from the surrounding pasture lands. The sand stream bed is as much as 100 years wide in many places. At Station No. 7, the stream changes character completely and flows between low, steep cut clay banks (Figures h and 5). Stream width here was approximately 30 feet and did not increase or decrease significantly until a point was reached near the town of West Columbia, approximately 30 river miles from the coast. Brackish water was first encountered near West Columbia at Station No. 3, and several small tributaries enter the San Bernard near this point. (Figures 6 and 7) Stream flow increased from zero at Station No. 10, near New iIhn, to 25 c.f.s. at Station No. 8, near wallis, and 53 c.f.s. at Station No. 5, near Boling. Below Station No. 5 conditions were such that accurate estimates of flow were not possible and no per- manent stream gauging exists in this portion of the river. Aquatic vegetation was limited to periphyton algae, filamentous algae and spatw terdock (Nuphar advena). In the clear waters above Station No. 7 algae growths ranged from sparse to abundant and in the more turbid water downstream they ranged from sparse to absent. At Station No. 6, near Kendleton, a limited growth of spatterdock or yellow wa- ter lily was found. No other rooted aquatic vegetation was found. ' w' CHEMECAL CHARACTERISTICS Water quality in the San Bernard was found to be satisfactory for diversified aquatic life at all points. The stream is clear in its upper reaches and grows more murky through the middle reaches. The pH range in the stream is from pH 9.2 in the up- stream section to pH 8.5 in the middle and lower sections of the river. No pollution was found during the survey of the river and only one potential source of pollution was found on the lower river. The sulphur plant, above Churchill Bridge, is locally believed to occasionally pollute the river, however, at the time of the survey, no direct evidence of such pollution could be found. FISH COLLECTIONS Seining collections were made in the upper and middle portions of the San Ber~ nard River at Stations h, 5, 7, 8, and 9. (Figure 1). No collections were made in the lower river sections where brackish water was encountered. Twenty—five freshwater species were collected at the five stations listed above and an additional nine fresh and saltwater species are assumed to exist in the river on the basis of reports from Dr. Clark thbs, local fishermen and resort owners. The names of these species are presented in Table l, and their distribution is given in Figure 8. The results of the fish collections indicate a limited freshwater fishery in the upper and middle reaches of the river. Sport species in these waters are limited to the channel catfish, yellow bullhead, largemouth bass, green sunfish, longear sunfish, and white crappie. The abundance of the more desirable sport species such as the large- )uth bass and white crappie appears to be limited. The white crappie (Pomoxis annularis) was taken in only one collection and the largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) also is present in very limited numbers. Green and longear sunfish, on the other hand, appear to be a significant part of the freshwater fishery of this stream. _The individual species most frequently collected and therefore assumed to be most widely distributed in the San Bernard are the common mosquitofish (Gambusia affinis), the green sunfish (Lepomis cyanellus), and the red fin or redhorse shiner (Notropis lutrensis). FAMILY'LEPISOSTEIDAE Though only a single species of gar was collected during the survey work on the San Bernard River, and that is the longnose gar, Lepisosteus osseus, there is reason to believe that the alligator gar, Lepisosteus spatula, and the spotted gar, Lepisosteus productus, also occur in the river. According to Dr. Clark Hubbs of the University of Texas, it is probable that these two additional species are present in the stream. FBMILY CLUPEIDAE The gizzard shad, Dorosoma cepedianum, though collected only at upstream collec— tion points, very likely is widely distributed throughout the length of the freshwater portions of the San Bernard River. FAMILY CATOSTOMIDAE Large schools of river carpsucker young-of—the-year, Carpiodes carpio, werecmflj. at Station No. 8, near Wallis, in the upstream portion of the river. This tends to indi— cate that the species is present in abundance and most likely occurs throghout the length of the river. FfiMILY CYPRINIDAE As was expected, this family was represented by more species in the collections than any other family. Twelve cyprinid species are known from the San Bernard. Ten of these were collected by survey personnel and two others are reported to occur in the river by Dr. Clark Hubbs. The localities from which these species were collected are shown in the accompanying maps in Figure 8. The redfin or redhorse shiner, Notropis lutrensis, was the most frequently taken minnow in the collections and the golden shiner, Notemigonus crysoleucas, was represented in the collections by only a single specimen. FAMILY AMEIUBIDAE Ameiurid species in the San Bernard River as in so many of the other small streams of Texas represent the major fishery potential for freshwater species. The channel catw fish, Ictalurus punctatus, and the yellow bullhead, Ictalurus natalis, were taken at up- stream stations and probably occur throughout the length of the stream. It is known that, where the stream is wide enough, there is a limited amount of trotline fishing done. FAMELY CYPRINODONTIDAE The blackstripe topminnow, Fundulus notatus, was taken at two of the upstream stations and was observed at several of the downstream stations. This indicates that the species is generally distributed over most of the stream. FAMILY POECILIIDAE As in most streams in this area, the common mosquitofish, Gambusia affinis, was found to be very abundant in the San Bernard. It was present in every collection made. FAMILY CENTBARCHIDAE Largemouth bass fingerlings were relatively abundant at Station No. 9, at the time of the June collection. At the time of the July visit to the river this station was a dry stream bed. Though not taken in large numbers, largemouth bass are probably widely distributed throughout the middle reaches of the river. Both the green sunfish, Lepomis cyanellus, and the longear sunfish, Lepomis megalotis, were found to be widely distributed in the freshwater portions of the San Ber- nard. These two species possibly are of importance in the fishery to the pole and line fishermen. A single white crappie, Pomoxis annularis, was taken in the June collections at Station No. 9. It is possible that this specimen was a chance occurrence accounted for by the recent floods, since none were taken in the July collections. waever, the species may be present in some of the deeper holes in the middle reaches of the river. ted A‘H FAMILY PERCIDAE Two darters, the slough darter, Etheostoma gracile, and the bluntnose darter, Etheostoma chlorosomum, were taken in the upper and middle portions of the river. They compose a very small part of the total pOpulation in each case. FAMILY MUGILIDAE The striped mullet, Mngil cephalus, is known from an observation of several dozen found dead along the river bank, apparently the result of bait seining. It is believed that the species is abundant throughout the lower and middle portions of the river. FAMELY SCIAENIDAE Although no collections were made in the saltwater of the lower river, several species of fish are known to occur there from the reports of fishermen and resort owners. Freshwater drum, Aplodinotus grunniens, redfish or red drum, Sciaenops ocellata, croaker, Micropogon undulatus, and speckled trout, Cynoscion nebulosus, were all reported as contributing to the fishery in the saltwater portion of the lower riveraatStations l and 2. CONCLUSIONS The lower 30 river miles of the San Bernard supports a significant fishery for carine species and supports several commercial docks at Churchill Bridge. A potential source of pollution is the sulphur plant above Churchill Bridge which local fishermen consider to be an occasional source of pollution. However, there is no evidence available at present to support this charge. Upstream through the middle portions of the river there are indications of moderately heavy fishing pressure for catfish, largemouth bass and sunfish. Channel cat- fish apparently are the most sought after species in the stream and are fished for pri» marily with trotlines. Above Station No. 7, in the vicinity of East Bernard, the stream is of little significant fishery potential due to intermittent and seasonal water conditions. Vegetation was sparse except in the shallow upper reaches of the river where algae growths were abundant. w d... \ (23/ .. . Prepared by Kenneth C. Jurgens Approved by 2;?) . ,fyfgwr Project Leader Chief Aquatic Biologist Date August 27.. 1957 Table 1. Checklist of Fishes Known or Reported to Occur in the San Bernard River. Scientific Name Common Name Family LEPISOSTEIDAE Lepisosteus osseus Family CLUPEIDAE Dorosoma cepedianum Family CATOSTOMIDAE Carpiodes carpio Family'CYPRINIDAE Notemigonus crysoleucas Opsopoeodus emiliae Hybopsis aestivalis (Reported by Hubbs) NotrOpis roseus Notropis venustus Notropis atherinoides Notropis fumeus Notropis amnis Notropis volucellus Notropis lutrensis Notropis brazosensis (Reported by Hubbs) Pimephales vigilax Family AMEIURIDAE Ictalurus punctatus Ictalurus natalis Schilbeodes gyrinus Family CYPBINODONTIDAE Fundulus notatus Family POECILIIDAE Gambusia affinis Family CENTBARCHIDAE MicrOpterus salmoides Lepomis cyanEIIEE"_"_' Lepomis megalotis Pomoxis annularis Family PERCIDAE Etheostoma gracile Etheostoma chlorosomum longnose gar “ gizzard shad 1 river carpsucker golden shiner pugnose minnow speckled dace weed shiner spottail shiner emerald shiner ribbon shiner pallid shiner mimic shiner redhorse shiner Brazos River shiner parrot minnow channel catfish yellow bullhead tadpole madtom blackstripe topminnow common mosquitofish largemouth bass green sunfish longear sunfish white crappie slough darter bluntnose darter -FCOLORADO COUNTY m’ / A DENOTES SURVEY STATIONS we 51' \ “A MATAGORDA Figure 1. Map of San Bernard River showing survey stations. - . A anus IIIIIIIIIII COUNTY .l...mmllll|lm L a“. \ mmmmlll .- "'1' Table 1 (Continued). Scientific Name Common Name Family MUGILIDAE Mugil cephalus striped mullet Family LEPISOSTEIDAE Lepisosteus spatula* alligator gar Lepisosteus productus* spotted gar Family SCIAERIDAE Aplodinotus grunniens** freshwater drum Sciaenops ocellata** . red fish or red drum Micropogon undulatus** croaker Cynoscion nebulosus** speckled trout Family SPnRIDAE Archosargus probatocephalus** sheepshead * Considered as probable in this drainage by Dr. Clark Hubbs. ** Reported to occur in saltwater portion of stream by fishermen and resort operators. Figure 2. Figure 3. Station No. 8 at Highway 60. Station No. 10 at Highway 90. Figure A. Figure-5. Station No. A at Farm Road 1301. Station No. 5 at Farm Road hh2. An‘