Fish Assemblages of the Alabama Appalachian Highlands

The aquatic fauna of Alabama is extremely diverse, and the total number of taxa may exceed that of any other state in North America.  The Coosa River System in NE Alabama supports a diverse assemblage of endemic aquatic species and includes many endangered and threatened species.  Surveys were conducted to document the distribution of fishes within several high gradient streams located in the upper and middle Coosa River watershed.  The Coosa River System is considered to be the most diverse system in the Mobile Basin, in terms of fishes, and is described as containing 147 freshwater species.  Two major subwatersheds of the Coosa, Little River and Choccolocco creek, each containing at least 30% of the fish species found in the entire Coosa system, were extensively surveyed in the last 3-5 years.  Sites were surveyed following USGS protocols.  The index of biological integrity, or IBI, was calculated for each site.  Collections made at 27 sites in the Choccolocco system have resulted in capturing and observing 4,316 individuals.  This inventory comprises 10 families, 22 genera, and 39 species.  IBI scores for the Choccolocco system range from “poor” to “good” with no sites scoring “excellent”.  We report here on total fish assemblages in the Choccolocco system with emphasis on sites occupied by the state-listed Holiday darter, Etheostoma brevirostrum, and the federally-listed Blue shiner, Cyprinella caerulea.  We also report data on fish assemblages in several high gradient tributaries of Little River.