Posted 19 April 2007 - 11:39 AM
Yup, the Neuse still has some very pretty & high ichthyo-diversity tribs, despite the main-stem's problems (it's #8 on American Rivers' top 10 most endangered rivers list). The Eno R, Flat R, Little R, another Little R (NC has LOTS of "Lttle Rivers"), Moccasin Creek, Marks Creek, etc. Even Crabtree Cr that drains most of Raleigh still has good pops of roanoke & chainback darters, pinewoods & swallowtail shiners, rosyside dace, bluehead chub, speckled killie, etc if you find the good spots.
The next river north of Neuse - Tar River - is (so far) much less impacted, but urban growth is accelerating there too.
Tar & Neuse together have several species derived from Ohio-basin ancestors that apparently invaded the Atlantic slope via stream capture thru the Roanoke basin: pinewoods shiner, mimic shiner, Carolina madtom, least brook lamprey, mtn redbelly dace, blacktip jumprock, bull chub, Roanoke rockbass, Roanoke darter, johnny darter, Neuse waterdog, Tar spiny mussel, probably some others.