Habitat Use of Two Darter Species in Glover River, Oklahoma

Abstract

Channel darters have generally been reported to inhabit areas of moderate current over bedrock substrate (Cross, 1967), gravelly sections of slow-flowing streams (Miller, 1973; Miller and Robison, 1973), and deeper water in larger streams (Blair, 1959). Logperch have been reported to prefer clear streams with gravel and rocky bottoms and to be found in deep water in or at the base of riffles near pools (Lachner et al., 1950; Thomas, 1970). Generally these species occupy permanently flowing streams. They are, however, resident in Glover River which in the summer is often reduced to isolated pools kept fresh by subsurface flow (Orth and Maughan, 1982). It was hypothesized that habitat use in this stream might differ from use in more typical habitats occupied by this species. Darters were collected by electroshocking quarterly from 1978 to 1980 at 14 sites of known area (Jones et al., 1984) along the Glover River. Measurements were made on depth, velocity and substrate at each individual capture location and on habitat measurements along several transects at each site once each quarter, using techniques outlined by Orth and Maughan (1982). Frequencies were divided in each interval of water depth, water velocity, and substrate type by available area within each respective interval to obtain an estimate of relative density. Logperch were captured most frequently in pools, although they were occasionally taken in deeper riffles and runs in spring. Captures were made