Fishes of the Neosho River System in Oklahoma

Abstract

One hundred and three species of fishes, or 66% of the species known to occur in Oklahoma, are reported from the Neosho River and its tributaries. Notes on the habitat and habits of the various species, and some theoretical considerations as to how certain species may have entered the system by means of stream-capture from the White River System are included. The Neosho River, known as the Grand downstream from the mouth of the Spring River, rises in the Flint Hills region of Morris Co., near Parkerville, east-central Kansas. From its source, the stream flows in a southeasterly direction for about 478 miles to its confluence with the Arkansas River near Fort Gibson, Oklahoma, 0.9 mi downstream from the mouth of the Verdigris River. The Neosho and its tributaries flow across gently westward-dipping, successively older geological formations (Cretaceous, Permian, Pennsylvanian). The general topography varies from rolling prairies in the extreme upper portion, to rugged and broken terrain in the Flint Hills. The elevation above mean sea level at the headwaters is about 1500 ft (460 m), falling to 477 ft (145 m) in Arkansas. The channel of the main stream is tortuous and well-defined, and its banks are generally stable. The bed is in gravel and boulders, except where excessive siltation has occurred. Many of the smaller streams, once clear, are turbid as a result of strip mining and improper soil-tilling practices. The upland watershed has only a light covering of topsoil, which supports substantial growths of native grasses, elm, cottonwood, willows and sycamores. In the more or less broken terrain of Oklahoma, Missouri, and Arkansas, the soil thickness varies greatly and timber growths, principally oaks, pines, hickories, elms, cottonwoods and willows, are abundant. The Neosho watershed includes an area of approximately 12,660 square miles, 6,285 of which are in Kansas, 2,965 in Oklahoma, 2,995 in Missouri and 415 in Arkansas. The drainage basin has a width of about 30 miles in its upper reaches, about 70 near its center, and a maximum of about 90 near the Kansas-Oklahoma state line. The watershed is bounded on the north by the Kansas and Osage, on the east by the White and Illinois, and on the west by the Arkansas and Verdigris watersheds. There are three major tributaries to the Neosho. The Cottonwood River heads in eastern McPherson Co., Kansas, and extends 383 miles to its mouth near Emporia, Kansas. Spring River, the Neosho's largest feeder, arises near Aurora, Lawrence Co., Missouri, and empties into the Pensacola Reservoir about 6 mi N of Wyandotte, Oklahoma. Elk River, locally called Cowskin Creek, is formed by Big Sugar and Little Sugar creeks near Pineville, Missouri, and empties into the Neosho near the Oklahoma-Missouri state line. These three tributaries drain 43% of the entire watershed.