TPWD 1954 F-4-R-1 #79: Inventory of species present in those portions of the Brazos River and tributaries lying between Possum Kingdom Lake and Lake Whitney

- "fir-Fad" ' STATE w“ Texas 1330530? me no .. PERIOD June 1, 195» ~ May 31, l95h Job Completion Report by Leonard D. Lamb Project Leader Robert ND Hambrie Assistant Project Leader TITLE Inventory of species present in those portions of the Brazos River and tributaries lying between Possum Kingdom Lake and Lake Whitney and in“ eluded in the following counties: Palo Pinto} Parker, Hood, Somervell and Johnsono QBJECTIVES To determine the distribution of speeies present, their relative abundance and the factors influencing their distributiona METHODS Seine etations were established on the Brazos and tributaries bem tween Possum Kingdom and Lake Whitney and were Vieited when water conditions would termito QFignre 13g Speeimens oolleoted were preserved in 10% formalin and transports ed to the laboratory for identifieation and tabulationo These specimens 6-3? have b en retained for further and more detailed study should time and pars eonnei oereitfl Lack of ohemieal equipment until the last few weeks of the pros jeet oeriod prevented the determination of data pertaining to the dissolved gaeea present in the water. RESUETS The collections from the Brazos River watershed total 882 specie mens-P repreeenting 18 speeies, 12 genera and 7 families” (Table l) The olaine red ehiner (Notropis intreneia) was most abundant in the collections {as 28%}? followed by blaohtail Shiner; (Netropis venustns (16.67%), bluegill sunfish {Le oeis eaoroehirne 8005% river oar sucker Car iodes ear io H J g? . fiatte and bleak stripe topminnow‘fipondnloe notatns) 365l% in that order. The remaining 13 epeoiee make up a total of 8005% of the oolieotiono (Table 2a) This watershed is situated in both.the West Cross Timbers and the trend Prairie eeologieal regions but there is little difference in the type of vegetation and land use in these separate areaso The streams are largely sand and gravel bottomed with variable hanhe that may be shallow and sloping at one point and ohange abruptly to a sheer faced rook cliff many feet in heightu The runoff is rapid and dronth conditions for the past three years 29 haWEkept the stream flow to a minimum in all but the Brazos where the oper~ ation of the hydromelectric generators in the Possum Kingdom Dam produce a variable flowo This flow may almost fluctuate from flood stage to practi— cally no flow, depending upon the power.production needso The uneartainty of flow on the Brazos} together with the almost total absence of water in the tributary streams during the greater part of the project period made collections rather inadequate. The reins of April and May provided water for the tributaries but also filled Possum Kingdom Lake to a point where constant release of water prevented collections except in the backwater on the edge of the river° The collections show a sight difference between the ecological regions” The species collected only from the West Gross Timbers were small— mouth buffalo (Ictiobus bubalus) and ribbon shiner (Notropis fumeus) while those collected only from the Grand Prairie were: river carpsucker (Carp— iodes carpio)3 Texas gray redhorse (Moxostoma congestum), palid shiner (Notropis amnis), silvery minnow (Hybognathus nuchalis), yellow bullhead (Ameiurus natalis), largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides),‘green sunfish (Lepomis cyanellus), spotted sunfish (Lepomis punctatus) and longear sunfish (Lepomis megalotis)e The difference in species may be due to the inability to obtain an adequate sample because of water conditions. The locations from the Grand Prairie region were made in three tributary streamer Squaw Creek, Paluxy River and Fall Creeka There were no collections made from the Brazos River in this area because of the swift current and the absence of backwatero The collections from the West Gross Timbers Region were made in the backwater pools on the Brazos River since there was no water in the tributaries that could be reacheda The use of rotenone was considered to be impractical since there are no accessible pools and it was considered unwise to attempt this method in a stream with considerable flowc Data collected from a representative station is included in the following data sheet and is typical of the data col _____ ected from all the stationso SUMMARY lo Collections were established on the Brazos River and tributar- ies hotneen Possum Kingdom Lake and Lake Whitney for the purpose of coliecm ting data regarding the species presentg 20 A total of 822 specimens representing 18 species, l2 genera and ? families were collectedo 30 Five fifecies made up 91095% of the total collection. They were: plains red shiner (5 aces), blacktaii shiner (16°67s), bluegill sunfish (Snoss), river carpsucker (Sohh%) and blackstripe'topminnow (351%)o to This watershed is located in two ecological regionso The upper part is in the West Cross Timbers and the lower portion is in the Grand Prairiea There is little difference in the vegetation types and type of land use found in the two regionso 50 Drouth conditions plus the uncertainty of releases of water from the dam at Possum Kingdom Lake prevent adequate sampling of the watershed and cause variations in type of collections madeo FISH CARD Coll. No. Bfisfi Locality: Brazos — Sta. 2 Date: 5m28m53 Selector: lamb Time: 2:30 PM_- 3:40 PM Bescription Shoreline: Sandy and sloping on north side a steep and rocky on north Bottom: Sandy with gravel and rock in pools Cover: Little other than salt cedar and some grass on margins Weather: w Present a Clear and hot Proceeding: Partly cloudy. Water temperature: Color: Surface: 760F Turbidity: none Bottom: 760F Vegetation Submerged: a verycnall amount of algae. Floating: One small patch of pondweed observed. Emerged: Salt cedar, black willow and button willow fairly abundant Predators: Snakes, softmshelled turtles, snapping turtles and gar observed in backwater pool in Dark Valley Creek just-above mouth. Parasites and Disease: None observed. Tackle Used: Bag seine Length: 30 ft. Depth: 8 ft. Mesh: %” no. of Hauls: t Length of Hauls: Average to ft. Species Taken \J"! Dorosoma cepedianum F1} hotropis fumeus hotropis lutrensis 213 Seratichthys sp. 3 Fundulus notatus l Gambusia affinis h Lepomis macrochirus 3 l. {‘0 ’29”: .., 1‘. ‘ w-l<-‘-’ ’3' Us l. a Shack List of the Fish Scientific Name Dorosoma cepedianum lotiobus bubalus Carpicdes carpio Moxostoua congestum Notropis fumeus Notropis lutrensis Hy bognai hus nucnali Ceratichthys sp. oo‘urus natalis luuulus notatus ("'1’ ”m 1 m 'g f?" " (1 \_'.'{'i:f:.lijL.!1_,;,:'JMia. :3. 4. ll’lle :1: “out a... t: hepatic punctetue t -. a “"o.’ u r. w? _- Pu ls macroohlrus Common Name Gizzard Shad Smallmouth Buffalo River Carpsucker Texas Gray Redhorse Ribbon shiner Pallid Shiner Blacktail Shiner Plains Red Shiner Silvery Minnow Yellow bullhead Blackstripe Topminnow Common mosquitofish Largemouth Black Bass Green Sunfish Spotted sunfish Bluegill Sunfish Longear Sunfish from the Brazos Watershed. Table 2, Species Dorosome eepedianum Intimmughubelus Cerpiodes eerpie Moxostome oongestum Notropis fumeus NotrOpis smnis Notropis venustus Netropis lutrensis Hybognethus nuohelis Ceretiehthys Sp. Ameiurus netelis Fundulus netetus Gemheeie effinie Mieropterue eelmoides Lenenis eyenellus Lepomis nunetetus Iepomis meereehirus Lenomis megelotie Squaw Creek El he Results of Seine Gollec Peluxy Creek LA) 16 lO 189 F! Fall Creek Tl DJ *3 Q? {751 r' {I} H-i Brazos at Palo Pinto F"! Eiver Watershed. Brazos at No. % Dark Vall. 5 9 1.02 1 all 213 51h 58.28 1 .11 3 9 1.02 1 ,11 FIGURE 1. A Map of the Watershed of the Brazos River Showing the Seine Stations where Collections were made. * Solid blocks represent seine Stations -------------------- 'I