Hello everybody,

This week I'm working in Mill Creek, a tributary to the Ohio River. The Mill Creek flows about 28 river miles from its headwaters in Butler County (Ohio) to downtown Cincinnati before entering the Ohio River. For an interesting account of this creek (one of the most polluted streams in the U.S.) check out this link;
http://www.geocachin...40-6228cbe2877e

Our crew electrofished the lower 2km of Mill Creek from our 12 ft. electrofishing raft all the way down to the creek's confluence with the Ohio River. This section of the stream was located in downtown Cincinnati. Here, the stream is bordered by numerous factories, combined sewer outfalls (CSO), a large wastewater treatment plant, and various other urban land use types. Although much of the stream in the lower 10 miles of the stream has a cemented shoreline, parts of the 2km reach we sampled had a small wooded riparian corridor.

As you can see from the photograph, the stream was very turbid in these lower reaches. Visibility was a few inches at best. What the photograph doesn't show is that the water had a strong sewage smell. Many areas on this stream have a chlorine smell from the numerous wastewater treatment plants, however, this lower area smelled of raw sewage...but there were still many fish to be seen.

Gizzard shad (Dorosoma cepedianum) - very abundant
Skipjack herring (Alosa chrysochloris)


- many small ones were present in the center of the creek channel in the faster current. They moved rather quickly and it seemed difficult to affect them with the electrical current. These fish were likely migrating out of the nearby Ohio River.
Common carp (Cyprinus carpio)
Goldfish (Carrasius auratus) - a few large ones
Emerald shiner (Notropis atherinoides) - the most common Cyprinid
Bluntnose minnow (Pimephales notatus)
Smallmouth buffalo (Ictiobus bubbalus)


- very abundant. Some specimens weighed over 10 lbs.
Quillback (Carpoides cyprinus) - only a few large adults
River carpsucker (Carpoides carpio) - very common. These large carpsuckers were found throughout the entire 2km reach.
Golden redhorse (Moxostoma erythrurum) - two adults. I was surprised to see this species here, with the silt levels as high as they were.
Yellow bullhead (Ameiurus natalis)
Channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus) - many large adults (some over 6 lbs.). I was surprised to find these fish in such good health. Most streams that look (and smell) like Mill Creek tend to have channel catfish riddled with parasites, tumors, lesions, or eroded barbels.
Flathead catfish (Pylodictus olivaris)


- one juvenile
White bass (Morone chrysops) - a few adults
Hybrid striped bass (Morone saxitilis x Morone chrysops)


- absent from the lower 1km of the creek, but they were quite abundant in the 1km upstream from that lower 1km. Some large hybrid stiped bass caught weighed over 7 lbs. These fish are stocked in the Ohio River.

(continued)

White crappie (Pomoxis annularis)
Black crappie (Pomoxis nigromaculatus)
Largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) - only a few smaller juveniles and young-of-year
Spotted bass (Micropterus punctatus) - many young-of-year
Smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieu) - only one young-of-year
Pumpkinseed sunfish (Lepomis gibbosus) - very abundant. I was surprised to find this species to be so common in a fluvial system. More often, I find them in lakes and ponds.
Longear sunfish (Lepomis megalotis)


- the most abundant sunfish species present. These colorful fish were found along every downed tree and rock pile.
Green sunfish (Lepomis cyanellus) - only a few
Bluegill (Lepomis macrochirus)
Freshwater drum (Aplodinotus grunniens)

After getting to look at the wide variety of fishes at this site, two of the other crew members had other work to do on the boat. I got to hang out at the boat launch and wait for their return. The plants on the bank had a peanut fragrance. I took a few pictures of what I identified as jimsonweed (Datura stramonium).


^ I've read (and was told) that the spiny fruit contains seeds that can be fatally poisonous. This is my first time seeing this plant. As I walked around looking at the jimsonweed, I noticed the ground was crawling with tiny skinks! Having never seen a skink in Ohio, I snuck up on one to take its photo (I need a better camera).

^ any thoughts on what kink of a skink this might be?

Anyways, it was my first time electrofishing in close proximity to the Ohio River. I was pleased to see a variety of species, although I'm sure this fish community is nothing compared to what it was historically.

-Nate

Nice report. Datura species are the basis for various traditional religions in Eurasia because of their psychoactive properties (if you know what you're doing and don't die). The Hindu god Shiva is often represented wearing a garland of Datura. It's an interesting plant on several levels.

Nice report. Datura species are the basis for various traditional religions in Eurasia because of their psychoactive properties (if you know what you're doing and don't die). The Hindu god Shiva is often represented wearing a garland of Datura. It's an interesting plant on several levels.

That is a very interesting tid-bit of information. The more I learn about plants, the more fascinated I become. I just picked up a book titled, Wild Flowers of Ohio, by Robert L. Henn. It's helping me learn to ID Ohio's wildflowers and is full of interesting facts.

The lizard looks like it could be this:

http://www.dnr.state...26/Default.aspx

or this:

http://www.dnr.state...56/Default.aspx

The lizard looks like it could be this:

http://www.dnr.state...26/Default.aspx

or this:

http://www.dnr.state...56/Default.aspx

Thanks! I think the first link is spot on. It's got to be a common wall lizard. p.s. I see you're from North Olmstead. I was just in North Olmstead and stopped in Fat Head's Brewery....it was AWESOME!

Nate,

Thanks for the report. I miss not being able to sample with electrofishing gear.

Help me out. I always thought that broken lines on the side were diagnostic of hybrid stripers. We don't have them here in Michigan, so I've never handled one in the wild. I got it wrong on your previous post, so can you tell me what is diagnostic? We have white bass and white perch in Michigan, and they are pretty easy to tell apart.

Thanks for the education.

They are wall lizards. The Mill creek used to be horrible. My uncle said when he was a kid back in the 1950's that one day the creek would flow green, the next day red. The same uncle told me of a friend who ate Jimson weed for recreational purposes back in the early 70's and hung out under his porch barking like a dog for a week or so. Good to see that the stream is doing a bit better nowadays.