Hello everybody,
I am an undergraduate student at Bowling Green State University in northwestern Ohio. I recently took a semester off of school to pursue a temporary position offered at the Midwest Biodiversity Institute. My professor at the university had informed me of the position and talked up the institute's founders. The institute was founded by people at the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency that were involved in advancing the way that fish are sampled and streams are analyzed. With that, I didn't see how I could pass up a chance at applying for a position with their institution. I applied, and so did Brian Zimmerman (smbass) without my prior knowledge, and we both got offered jobs. He was able to start in early summer, and I was tied up with a prior engagement to work for the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency for the summer...so, I started in the fall. There's the story to how it began.
At the Midwest Biodiversity Institute (MBI), I was signed on as a field technician/research assistant. There are many projects that the institute is involved in. I worked with two different sampling crews, one was sampling the DuPage River and DesPlaines River drainages in northeastern Illinois, and the other (the crew that Brian was on) was different sized streams in southern Wisconsin, northwestern Indiana, and throughout Illinois. The purpose of the 1st crew’s work was to set up a basic surveying program for a local watershed group. MBI was conducting the first round of sampling and then handing over the data and sites to the local group for them to pick up where MBI left off and continue the surveys once a year or every other year as their monitoring program dictates.
The work on the 2nd crew (the one that Brian was on) had two different projects going on. The first one, which we completed at the beginning of my time with this crew, was on the DuPage River drainage also. It was an intensive survey that is part of a study that Chris Yoder (of the MBI formerly of the OEPA) is doing for a comparison. He is trying to compare intensive survey sites where the sites are picked (above and below water treatment plant discharges for example) with intensive survey sites where the sites are random (such as every river mile or some other predetermined distance). The idea is eventually Chris will have enough surveys of both of these types of methods completed to write up a paper describing which of the two is more effective.
The other project that was going on during my time on the 2nd crew was a project that Brian and I still aren’t sure 100% of its implications. The basic idea is we had 100 streams of varying size classes (classified by river drainage miles) and we were trying to better define limits and characteristics of what is a boat-able site, and at what size do they get too small for a boat and require wade-able sampling methods. This was done all over southern Wisconsin, northwestern Indiana, and throughout Illinois. I came away feeling like the answer to the question we were trying to help answer isn’t very cut and dry at all.
So, of course I kept data most sites that we sampled. The protocol for the 2nd crew included the need to photograph or voucher one of every species. That means I’ve got lots of pictures of some fish that I don’t get to see all too often. My professor at the university asked that I keep a journal of what I did on my time with the MBI to receive college credit for it, so I kept that journal in the form of “Trip Reports”. I’m just now getting around to typing them up to get them ready to hand in. It wouldn’t be more than a copy and paste to share them here, so I thought I would do that as I am finishing them. I hope everyone enjoys, and I hope people who live near these areas (we do have at least a few members in this area) take in this information and learn more about their local watersheds.

(I didn't have a camera along for work with the 1st crew. Any sites that have photos attached can be assumed to be part of the study being done by the 2nd crew).

Date: September 05, 2007
Location: Addison Creek (trib. to the DesPlaines River) in Stone Park, IL. On US 45 (between US 20 & 64).
Water Level: Shallow with one riffle in the 200m that we sampled. There were a few pools where the depth was around 2.5’.
Water Quality: pH: 6.33 – D.O.: 6.56 mg/L – Cond: 1170 Us/cm. The conductivity was really high. There was lots of pollution in the water as well. There were shopping carts and trash in the water. The stream was turbid and muddy. Lots of siltation.
Water Temp.: 24.50*C
Substrate: Artificial! The bottom consisted of cement that was poured in by a cementing company to minimize the erosion of the shoreline near their company. Fish habitat was at a minimum.
Collected:
Common Carp (Cyprinus carpio) – one of North America’s most successful invasive/exotic species. These fish can practically survive in any condition. They are uncommon where water quality is high and species competition is high. But here, they are easy to come by and can be seen swimming in the shallow water.
Common Carp x Goldfish (Cyprinus carpio x Carassius auratus) – this is a hybrid fish. The Common Carp and Goldfish regularly spawn together in this area. Lon, the crew leader, showed me why this fish was not a Goldfish or a Common Carp. The Common Carp had well-defined “barbs” at the corner of its lips. The Goldfish does not. He also made a point about the head shape being different for both Goldfish and Common Carp. This fish had no mouth barbs, and a head shape that was not as long as a carps, but longer than a goldfish’s head. Also the spines on the fins were different from either fish’s pure state. Here’s a case of two invasive/exotic species coming together to make a hybrid. Bad news.
Hornyhead Chub (Nocomis biguttatus) – lots of these were found here. This is a surprise because they are normally associated with better quality streams and much wider streams. This stream was probably 10m wide at the most. Lon, the crew leader, believes that these fish were misplaced during a big flood the area had a few weeks ago. It is not likely these fish are regular residents of this stream.
Creek Chub (Semotilus atromaculatus) – lots were found here, and that’s something usually not too good as far as a stream's biological integrity is concerned. When species competition is low, Creek Chub numbers are high.
Bluntnose Minnow (Pimephales notatus) – most common minnow species here. They are often very common in conditions that do not suit more “sensitive” species. One of the reasons they probably do so well in these conditions is their spawning habits.
Fathead Minnow (Pimephales promelas) – closely related to the Bluntnose Minnow, have similar habits.
Spotfin Shiner (Cyprinella spiloptera) – only one was caught. These fish are usually pretty tolerant of poor water quality as well, but they were even hard to come by.
White Sucker (Catostomus commersonii commersonii) – one of the most ecologically tolerant species of sucker/redhorse found in the state.
Black Bullhead (Ameiurus melas) – a few were found, almost all of them had eroded barbs on their chin. The eroded bards are another indication of poor water quality.
Yellow Bullhead (Ameiurus natalis) – see “Black Bullhead”.
Black Crappie (Pomoxis nigromaculatus) – one was caught right underneath the bridge where we started our sampling. This is one of the only piscivore we found in the area. It is more likely that White Crappie would be found here due to their better tolerance of pollution.
Orangespotted Sunfish (Lepomis humilis) – we are right in the middle of these sunfishes range here. I believe most streams in this area are going to have either Bluegill Sunfish, Green Sunfish, or Orangespotted Sunfish as the dominant species of sunfish.
Bluegill Sunfish (Lepomis macrochirus macrochirus) – lots were found here, all young of year though. No large ones.
Green Sunfish (Lepomis cyanellus) – this was the dominant sunfish species found here. They are extremely tolerant to poor water quality. The Green Sunfish here had lots of anomalies like eroded fins, tumors, and parasites. I feel that these fish are more susceptible to these kinds of problems than the other sunfish species because these are probably the only sunfish that are year round/life long residents of this stream.
Hybrid Sunfish (Lepomis hybrid) – probably a cross between Bluegill Sunfish and Green Sunfish.


Notes: Used a Long-line set-up to electrofish here. We sampled a 200m area. With the long-line you go from downstream (the bridge) to upstream (200m). Many of the fish here had anomalies. The area was highly modified and industrial.

I'll continue updating this thread, I've got at least 30 entries if not more.

Date: September 05, 2007
Location: Addison Creek (trib. to the DesPlaines River) in Hillside, IL. Just north of I-290 and US 45 intersection.
Water Level: Uniform depth of about 1.5'.
Water Quality: pH: 8.5 - D.O.: 11.18 mg/L - Cond.: 1018 Us/cm. The water looked quite clear. There was some siltation on the stream bottom. The stream was perfectly straight. Meaning the 200m that we sampled was in a complete straight line (the GPS confirmed it). This section of the stream is extremely channelized.
Water Temp.: 26.01*C
Substrate: Sand and muck with a little gravel mixed in. The shoreline had an abundance of rock structure, but it was fenced into the shoreline to keep it from moving!
Collected:
Common Carp x Goldfish (Cyprinus carpio x Carassius auratus) - a few were found
Hornyhead Chub (Nocomis biguttatus) - a few were found here. They were all small. I think these are here because a recent rain washed them out from their normal habitat, as was seen upstream at the other Addison Creek spot in Stone Park, IL.
Creek Chub (Semotilus atromaculatus) - the most common fish found here.
Fathead Minnow (Pimephales promelas) - only a few.
Bluntnose Minnow (Pimephales notatus)
White Sucker (Catostomus commersonii commersonii) - lots were found here. They seem to school with the other minnow species here, and are common in smaller streams.
Black Bullhead (Ameiurus melas) - there were quite a few along the shoreline in the rocks and fencing.
Yellow Bullhead (Ameiurus natalis) - found in the same area as the Black Bullhead.
Blackstripe Topminnow (Fundulus notatus) - this is northern Illinois' most common killifish. It is found in most low-gradient streams in the state.
Green Sunfish (Lepomis cyanellus)
Bluegill Sunfish (Lepomis macrochirus macrochirus)
Hybrid Sunfish (Lepomis hybrid)

Notes: Sampled a 200m stretch with a longline attached to an electric generator. When electroshocking, we caught a large snapping turtle. It was probably 20lbs. or more in weight. ( I lost my camera here too).

Interesting Nate. Keep them coming.

Date: September 06, 2007
Location: Addison Creek (trib. to the DesPlaines River) in Broadview, IL. At Gardner Ave. off Roosevelt Rd.
Water Level: A little less than 1m throughout. Rather consistent depth.
Water Quality: pH: 7.35 – D.O.: 5.34 mg/L – Cond.: 1116 Us/cm. Very turbid. Heavy siltation and modification to the watershed. The area was surrounded by industry and there was no riparian zone. The dissolved oxygen was low and the conductivity was high, indicating lots of dissolved solids in the water.
Water Temp.: 23.67*C
Substrate: Mostly muck and sand. A few chunks of cement were dumped into the creek as well. Any sand in the creek was covered in silt and muck.
Collected:
Gizzard Shad (Dorosoma cepedianum) – the stream is a little larger here than at the previous spots we sampled on this creek. The Gizzard Shad is found in a little bit larger streams than some of the fish we were finding before.
Common Carp (Cyprinus carpio)
Goldfish (Carassius auratus) – these Goldfish had split-tails like the aquarium trade variety. They were obviously placed here awhile ago. They were pretty big too, as far as goldfish go. They probably were 8-10 inches long. When the electrical current hit them, they jumped really high out of the water. It was quite a sight to see.
Common Carp x Goldfish (Cyprinus carpio x Carassius auratus) – this was the 1st site at which I could clearly agree with the differences in the hybrids and pure-breeds.
Golden Shiner (Notemigonus crysoleucas) – only one of these were found. They have a pretty high tolerance of water conditions.
Hornyhead Chub (Nocomis biguttatus) – found a lot of them here. Everywhere where there was any sort of bush or shrub (rare here) there were lots (schools of 10+). It seems that Addison Creek has a good population of Hornyhead Chub. That’s a good thing for this creek, because Hornyhead Chub are not the most ecologically tolerant species.
Creek Chub (Semotilus atromaculatus)
Central Bigmouth Shiner (Notropis dorsalis dorsalis) – interesting species of fish. Has a large mouth for such a small minnow. They are pretty rare in Ohio, but in Illinois, their range is pretty expansive.
Fathead Minnow (Pimephales promelas)
Bluntnose Minnow (Pimephales notatus)
White Sucker (Catostomus commersonii commersonii) – there were lots here in the middle of the creek. When we processed them though, they had lots of anomalies. The anomalies included eroded fins, tumors, and whorled scales. All these things become apparent when water quality is low.
Yellow Bullhead (Ameiurus natalis) – only one.
Black Bullhead (Ameiurus melas) – a few were found. Not much suitable habitat for bullheads.
Blackstripe Topminnow (Fundulus notatus) – the gradient was low enough for these to be around.
Green Sunfish (Lepomis cyanellus)
Pumpkinseed Sunfish (Lepomis gibbosus) – this sunfish species is normally associated with medium to larger sized streams and lakes. Only found one. This stream really didn’t have suitable habitat for good populations of large sunfish like this one.
Orangespotted Sunfish (Lepomis humilis) – only a few here. They are common in this creek.
Bluegill Sunfish (Lepomis macrochirus macrochirus) – Illinois’ State Fish.
Hybrid Sunfish (Lepomis hybrid)


Notes: Sampled here using a rollerbeast. This area was very industrialized. We got better diversity than at previous spots on Addison Creek, but I feel this is because the stream is larger here and you start to see fish associated with larger streams here. (Got my fingernail ripped out of my finger here when we were transporting the rollerbeast back into the trailer!)

You could probably find some pistols and bodies in that Addison Cr. site, I know right where that is. Stone Park, IL is one of the last strongholds for illegal gambling and prostitution run by the Chicago Outfit.

For example, the cement company is a huge red flag!

You could probably find some pistols and bodies in that Addison Cr. site, I know right where that is. Stone Park, IL is one of the last strongholds for illegal gambling and prostitution run by the Chicago Outfit.

For example, the cement company is a huge red flag!

In fact, it was right behind a strip club. Hahahah...hope that's not how you know where it is...haha.

No comment!

Date: September 06, 2007
Location: Salt Creek (trib. to the DesPlaines River) in Villa Park, IL. Near the intersection of Fullerton Ave. and Villa Ave.
Water Level: Levels have come down since flooding the week prior. The creek had pools of nearly 5’.
Water Quality: pH: 7.38 – D.O.: 7.15 mg/L – Cond.: 794 Us/cm. Very turbid. The water here is muddy year ‘round. There is a good bit of shoreline erosion that puts an abundance of silt in the water. There is a lot of industry and many waste water treatment facilities on the creek. This creek seems to be in better shape here than Addison Creek was. There is also a riparian zone of at least 30m here.
Water Temp.: 24.59*C
Substrate: Muck. There was some sand and gravel, but it is pretty much covered with silt and muck. There were lots of logjams though, which makes for good fish habitat.
Collected:
Gizzard Shad (Dorosoma cepedianum) – only a few here. A fish associated with medium sized streams.
Common Carp (Cyprinus carpio) – a few were collected. They were large, probably weighing more than 10lbs. each. The area here is favorable to them. The water is turbid, there is little intra-species competition, and there are log jams that they can hide around.
Common Carp x Goldfish (Cyprinus carpio x Carassius auratus) – only one.
Golden Shiner (Notemigonus crysoleucas) – only one, also.
Spotfin Shiner (Cyprinella spiloptera) – lots, they were very abundant around the log jams.
Central Bigmouth Shiner (Notropis dorsalis dorsalis) – a few were found here. They don’t seem to be as picky about water quality as I previously thought.
Bluntnose Minnow (Pimephales notatus) – just as common here as the Spotfin Shiner.
White Sucker (Catostomus commersonii commersonii)
Yellow Bullhead (Ameiurus natalis)
Black Bullhead (Ameiurus melas)
Blackstripe Topminnow (Fundulus notatus) – these had lots of favorable habitat. There were plenty of slack water areas. There isn’t much flow to this stream in general. There were some quiet backwater areas with flooded grass that had Blackstripe Topminnow everywhere.
Yellow Bass (Morone mississippiensis) – found one. These fish are found in this river system. They are one of my favorite fish. They look very similar to the more common White Bass, but they have a yellow tone to their scales and broken lines running laterally.
Black Crappie (Pomoxis nigromaculatus) – only one large one. There was some flooded timber here and slow moving water, crappie tend to get large in these situations.
Northern Largemouth Bass (Micropterus salmoides salmoides) – a few were found here. One large one too.
Green Sunfish (Lepomis cyanellus) – lots of large adults.
Orangespotted Sunfish (Lepomis humilis) – the most abundant sunfish species here. They are very common in this system.
Bluegill Sunfish (Lepomis macrochirus macrochirus)
Pumpkinseed Sunfish (Lepomis gibbosus) – a few smaller ones.

Notes: Electrofished via a boat. I was really interested in this spot because it is within a few blocks of the house that I grew up in. I have seined in this creek before and found similar fish.


Date: September 07, 2007
Location: Salt Creek (trib. to the DesPlaines River) in Addison, IL. Near the intersection of Addison Rd. and US-20. (at Community Park)
Water Level: Varying depth. Water seemed to be more than 3’ deep for the most part. Water levels have dropped significantly in the last few weeks. I could see the old water line on the over-hanging vegetation. There were some shallow areas behind some log jams as well.
Water Quality: pH: 7.46 – D.O.: 5.94 mg/L – Cond.: 739 Us/cm. Pretty similar to the site we did a little further downstream the day before. Very turbid. The water here is muddy year ‘round. There is a good bit of shoreline erosion that puts an abundance of silt in the water. There is a lot of industry and many waste water treatment facilities on the creek. This creek seems to be in better shape here than Addison Creek was. There is also a riparian zone of at least 30m here.
Water Temp.: 23.20*C
Substrate: Muck. There was some sand and gravel, but it is pretty much covered with silt and muck. There were lots of logjams though, which makes for good fish habitat. (Pretty much the same type of habitat as the spot from the previous day)
Collected:
Gizzard Shad (Dorosoma cepedianum) – a few were found here. They are fish that are common in medium to large sized rivers and streams. They are undoubtedly one of the most common fish in this creek. It’s probable that during cold weather periods they congregate at the mouths of the discharges for the waste water treatment facilities located on the creek.
Common Carp (Cyprinus carpio) – there were lots of large carp here. The first one we collected was 19lbs. It had lots of anomalies. It was suffering from pop-eye, eroded fins, tumors, and lesions. It was obvious that this fish has been in this polluted creek for a long time. Pictures were taken of this fish by our crew leader. I’ll have to continue to pester him about those pics.
Spotfin Shiner (Cyprinella spiloptera) – the most common minnow in this creek.
Bluntnose Minnow (Pimephales notatus) – could be as common here as the Spotfin Shiner. Both of these species dominating the minnow sample of this creek doesn’t indicate a good variety of fishes.
Central Bigmouth Shiner (Notropis dorsalis dorsalis) – only one was taken here. The habitat didn’t seem too favorable for them. They seem to associate with current more than what was available here.
White Sucker (Catostomus commersonii commersonii) – a sucker fish that is found mostly in small to medium sized rivers and streams. It’s not a surprise to find these here. It is a sign of a healthy stream, however, if the sucker species found makes up the majority of the biomass of your sample. This wasn’t the case here, only a few of these were found.
Yellow Bullhead (Ameiurus natalis) – a couple were caught. Surprisingly, no Black Bullheads were caught here.
Blackstripe Topminnow (Fundulus notatus) – only one was caught although many more were seen. It is hard to sample this species of fish with electroshocking equipment. They seem to be affected less than other species by the electric current. It’s probably due to their habit of staying right at the surface of the water.
Yellow Bass (Morone mississippiensis) – one average sized one was found here. The area we started sampling at was right where a waste water treatment facility discharges. This could mean that there is a good amount of minnows near there eating debris that comes from that discharge, therefore the piscivores (White Bass, Black Crappie, Largemouth Bass, and Yellow Perch) are showing up around here to feed.
Black Crappie (Pomoxis nigromaculatus) – one large one was caught near a log jam. It was over 12” in length.
Northern Largemouth Bass (Micropterus salmoides salmoides) – only a few were caught, but one was in the 3lb. range.
Green Sunfish (Lepomis cyanellus) – not surprising to find some of these here. They are practically in every natural body of water in the state.
Orangespotted Sunfish (Lepomis humilis) – this fish is very abundant in this creek and does well for itself here. These fish are one of the smallest sunfish species found in the state and probably do not compete well with the bigger sunfish. At times when you see conditions not favorable for too many fish, the Orangespotted Sunfish may be a dominant species. I've read that these fish have large sensory organs on their heads somewhere. Perhaps this is why they are able to do well in such turbid water; better than other sunfish species at least.
Bluegill Sunfish (Lepomis macrochirus macrochirus) – lots of young of year fish here. Bluegill Sunfish seem to adapt to lots water conditions.
Pumpkinseed Sunfish (Lepomis gibbosus) – only a few here. It is good to see this species here. It adds to the diversity of the stream.
Hybrid Sunfish (Lepomis hybrid) – probably Green Sunfish x Bluegill Sunfish. This isn’t so good for the diversity of the stream.
Yellow Perch (Perca flavescens) – one small one was caught here. It is good to see that some piscivores find this area suitable.

Notes: Electrofished from a 12 foot boat. Started right at a waste water treatment plant discharge area and worked our way downstream 500m. The area where the treatment plant discharges may be a good place to catch Common Carp on a fly rod in the future, since my parent's house is 2 blocks from here.

No darters! (Probably should not have expected any.) It is nice to see some variety beyond carp, sunfish, and bullheads. And the ever present blackstripes. I live near the Des Plaines in Wisconsin and you cannot dip a net withou getting some blackstripes.

No darters! (Probably should not have expected any.) It is nice to see some variety beyond carp, sunfish, and bullheads. And the ever present blackstripes. I live near the Des Plaines in Wisconsin and you cannot dip a net withou getting some blackstripes.

Yeah, it was odd that we didn't even see Johnny Darters there. The only other one I was kind of expecting to see was the Blackside Darter. Well, on to the DuPage River, where we did at least see Johnny Darters.

Date: September 08, 2007
Location: East Branch of the DuPage River in Bolingbrook, IL. West of SR 53, near the intersection of Schmidt Rd. and Boughton Rd. (Right by the Hidden Springs Trout Farm)
Water Level: Depths ranging from 2’ to 4’ were common. There were defined pools and runs here. The pools had favorable habitat for Smallmouth Bass. The USGS gage height read 10.75 feet and flow was 37 cubic feet per second. It was a little higher than average.
Water Quality: The water was very stained and turbid, even though there was good flow.
Water Temp.: 22.81*C
Substrate: Muck and detritus made up the majority of the bottom. There were lots of heavily silted areas as well.
Collected:
Gizzard Shad (Dorosoma cepedianum) – only one was found.
Common Carp (Cyprinus carpio) – a few large ones were near some of the flooded timber.
Common Carp x Goldfish (Cyprinus carpio x Carassius auratus)
Hornyhead Chub (Nocomis biguttatus) – one large adult male was found here.
Creek Chub (Semotilus atromaculatus)
Spotfin Shiner (Cyprinella spiloptera) – these were very abundant here.
Central Bigmouth Shiner (Notropis dorsalis dorsalis) – only a few were found here.
Bluntnose Minnow (Pimephales notatus) – as common as the Spotfin Shiner.
Central Stoneroller Minnow (Campostoma anomalum pullum) – only one.
Shorthead Redhorse (Moxostoma macrolepidotum) – a few very large ones were found just downstream of the canoe launch. They were schooled up near a mine discharge.
White Sucker (Catostomus commersonii commersonii) – few
Yellow Bullhead (Ameiurus natalis) – a few were found among the log jams.
Tadpole Madtom (Noturus gyrinus) – one was collected by me with a dipnet along the shoreline. I’m sure these fish were really common along the shoreline in thick vegetation, but those spots are difficult to sample from the electrofishing boat.
Blackstripe Topminnow (Fundulus notatus) – a few were found in the slower moving areas of the stream.
Western Mosquitofish (Gambusia affinis) – one was caught with the dipnet. I’m sure there were a lot more around.
White Crappie (Pomoxis annularis) – one was collected downstream of our access point.
Black Crappie (Pomoxis nigromaculatus) – a few were caught upstream of the access. Not sure if there was a big difference in the upstream and downstream sites.
Rock Bass (Ambloplites rupestris) – a few large ones were caught in the pools that were at the end of some of the runs upstream of our access point.
Northern Smallmouth Bass (Micropterus dolomieu dolomieu) – this spot produced some large Smallmouth Bass. The fish here were large enough to make me want to come here to try fishing some of the pools here.
Northern Largemouth Bass (Micropterus salmoides salmoides) – only a few smaller ones. More of a Smallmouth Bass spot overall.
Orangespotted Sunfish (Lepomis humilis) – with the increased number of species here, the amount of Orangespotted Sunfish decreased.
Bluegill Sunfish (Lepomis macrochirus macrochirus) – lots.
Green Sunfish (Lepomis cyanellus)
Hybrid Sunfish (Lepomis hybrid)
Johnny Darter (Etheostoma nigrum) – the 1st darters I’ve seen since working from the electrofishing boat. Darters are not easy to sample with this equipment, we would have been much better off with a seine to find them.

Notes: Electrofished from a boat. This collection is from the upstream site (500m) and the downstream site (500m), making up 1000m of collection distance.

Date: September 09, 2007
Location: Churchill Woods Impoundment (on the East Branch of the DuPage River) in Glen Oaks, IL. Located on Crescent Blvd. Near I-355.
Water Level: This area is an impoundment on the DuPage River. The impoundment ranged from its shallow flats to holes of only about 6’ in depth.
Water Quality: The water was very muddy and looked quite polluted. People at the park seemed to put a lot of trash in the water. Low gradient area.
Water Temp.: 24*C
Substrate: Mostly muck and detritus. Lots of fallen trees around small island in the middle of the impoundment provided some cover.
Collected:
Gizzard Shad (Dorosoma cepedianum) – these were the most abundant fish here. These fish are found in large numbers in impoundments throughout their native and introduced range.
Common Carp (Cyprinus carpio) – a few really big ones were found near the islands.
Common Carp x Goldfish (Cyprinus carpio x Carassius auratus) – only one.
Golden Shiner (Notemigonus crysoleucas) – the Golden Shiner is another fish that does well as a forage fish for larger predatory fish in impoundments like this one.
Bluntnose Minnow (Pimephales notatus) – the only minnow species found in this impoundment. This speaks to their wide range of water quality tolerance.
White Sucker (Catostomus commersonii commersonii) – a few big ones were found here. These fish are more likely to be associated with rivers and streams than impoundments.
Yellow Bullhead (Ameiurus natalis)
Black Bullhead (Ameiurus melas)
Western Mosquitofish (Gambusia affinis) – some of the largest I’ve ever seen!
Black Crappie (Pomoxis nigromaculatus) – a few large ones were caught near the islands in the middle of impoundment. The area around the islands would be a good for angling.
Northern Largemouth Bass (Micropterus salmoides salmoides) – these were in the same area as the Black Crappie. These were also pretty large. This would probably be one of the better spots in the area to fish for big Largemouth Bass.
Bluegill Sunfish (Lepomis macrochirus macrochirus) – there were plenty of Bluegill here of all size classes.
Green Sunfish (Lepomis cyanellus)
Orangespotted Sunfish (Lepomis humilis) – there was a strong population of these here. Normally these fish are found in turbid rivers. This is an impoundment of a turbid river, so it makes sense to see them here. Once again, it is probably the large sensory organs on their heads that makes life easier for them in turbid water than other sunfishes.
Hybrid Sunfish (Lepomis hybrid)

Notes: This spot was sampled via a 12 foot electrofishing boat. The most productive areas on the impoundment were right around the islands in the middle of the impoundment.

Date: September 09, 2007
Location: East Branch of the DuPage River, in Glen Ellyn, IL. Off of Spring Rd. and just north of SR 53.
Water Level: Ranging from waist deep pools to ankle deep riffles. Water levels were at normal levels for this time of year.
Water Quality: Turbid and low gradient. Lots of siltation, not much of a riparian zone, and the stream appeared to be channelized here. The stream was probably less than 20m wide here.
Water Temp.: 24.22*C
Substrate: Sand and detritus, with lots of siltation. Lots of fallen trees in the water too. The banks were grass lined, and the overhanging vegetation supplied some cover for small fish. There were some small rocks that made up a small riffle.
Collected:
Common Carp (Cyprinus carpio) – these were very abundant here. It was not far upstream of an oxbow that I have visited at which there is a big carp population.
Common Carp x Goldfish (Cyprinus carpio x Carassius auratus) – only one was here.
Golden Shiner (Notemigonus crysoleucas)
Creek Chub (Semotilus atromaculatus) – only a few here.
Sand Shiner (Notropis stramineus stramineus) – a few were found in a shallow sandy run area where there was enough current to keep the substrate clean.
Central Bigmouth Shiner (Notropis dorsalis dorsalis) – these were found alongside the Sand Shiner, they seem to have the same habitat requirement of the Sand Shiner.
Spotfin Shiner (Cyprinella spiloptera)
Central Stoneroller Minnow (Campostoma anomalum pullum) – these were only found in the one small riffle area that was in the 200m stretch that we sampled.
Bluntnose Minnow (Pimephales notatus) – these were the most abundant fish in the sample, which is expected in this type of stream.
White Sucker (Catostomus commersonii commersonii) – a few were in the deeper pools. They are the most abundant sucker in this area of the river.
Yellow Bullhead (Ameiurus natalis) – these fish were in large numbers along the grassy banks and in the deeper pools. They were also near the fallen trees in the water.
Black Bullhead (Ameiurus melas) – only a few were here. It was odd to see so few of these when the Yellow Bullhead was so abundant. It seems that the Black Bullhead requires a little bit cleaner water conditions than the Yellow Bullhead.
Blackstripe Topminnow (Fundulus notatus) – these fish were almost everywhere here. They could be found near every patch of grass along the shoreline.
Northern Largemouth Bass (Micropterus salmoides salmoides) – lots. These fish are very abundant in this area of the river. It is really low gradient, and less than a mile downstream there is a large oxbow that has a big population of very large Largemouth Bass. No large fish were found here. It seems that the smaller ones live in the stream around the oxbow.
Northern Smallmouth Bass (Micropterus dolomieu dolomieu) – only one. It was surprising to find this one small bass in this low gradient area. In fact, this fish was found near the only riffle area in this stretch. Other higher gradient areas of this river have lots of large Smallmouth Bass.
Bluegill Sunfish (Lepomis macrochirus macrochirus) – we sampled over 100 of these in the 200m stretch.
Green Sunfish (Lepomis cyanellus) – lots of these were caught as well.
Orangespotted Sunfish (Lepomis humilis) – only a few of these were found.
Hybrid Sunfish (Lepomis hybrid) – the interesting thing about these hybrids is that they looked like they were Lepomis macrochirus macrochirus x Lepomis humilis. I have never seen this type of hybrid before. Brian Zimmerman took a picture of this type of hybrid at the Scioto River in south central Ohio. This is how the fish that we caught here looked.
Johnny Darter (Etheostoma nigrum) – only a few of these were caught. I think they were found near the only small riffle as well.

Notes: This site was sampled with a rollerbeast. It is an effective way to sample sites that are too large for a backpack shocker and too small for a boat. I was excited to do this spot because it was less than a mile from one of my favorite fishing spots from when I was growing up.

Date: September 09, 2007
Location: Churchill Woods Impoundment (on the East Branch of the DuPage River) in Glen Oaks, IL. Located on Crescent Blvd. Near I-355.
Water Level: This area is an impoundment on the DuPage River. The impoundment ranged from its shallow flats to holes of only about 6' in depth.
Water Quality: The water was very muddy and looked quite polluted. People at the park seemed to put a lot of trash in the water. Low gradient area.
Water Temp.: 24*C
Substrate: Mostly muck and detritus. Lots of fallen trees around small island in the middle of the impoundment provided some cover.
Collected:
Gizzard Shad (Dorosoma cepedianum) – these were the most abundant fish here. These fish are found in large numbers in impoundments throughout their native and introduced range.
Common Carp (Cyprinus carpio) – a few really big ones were found near the islands.
Common Carp x Goldfish (Cyprinus carpio x Carassius auratus) – only one.
Golden Shiner (Notemigonus crysoleucas) – the Golden Shiner is another fish that does well as a forage fish for larger predatory fish in impoundments like this one.
Bluntnose Minnow (Pimephales notatus) – the only minnow species found in this impoundment. This speaks to their wide range of water quality tolerance.
White Sucker (Catostomus commersoni commersoni) – a few big ones were found here. These fish are more likely to be associated with rivers and streams than impoundments.
Yellow Bullhead (Ameiurus natalis)
Black Bullhead (Ameiurus melas)
Western Mosquitofish (Gambusia affinis) – some of the largest I've ever seen!
Black Crappie (Pomoxis nigromaculatus) – a few large ones were caught near the islands in the middle of impoundment. The area around the islands would be a good for angling.
Northern Largemouth Bass (Micropterus salmoides salmoides) – these were in the same area as the Black Crappie. These were also pretty large. This would probably be one of the better spots in the area to fish for big Largemouth Bass.
Bluegill Sunfish (Lepomis macrochirus macrochirus) – there were plenty of Bluegill here of all size classes.
Green Sunfish (Lepomis cyanellus)
Orangespotted Sunfish (Lepomis humilis) – there was a strong population of these here. Normally these fish are found in turbid rivers. This is an impoundment of a turbid river, so it makes sense to see them here. Once again, it is probably the large sensory organs on their heads that makes life easier for them in turbid water than other sunfishes.
Hybrid Sunfish (Lepomis hybrid)

Notes: This spot was sampled via a 12 foot electrofishing boat. The most productive areas on the impoundment were right around the islands in the middle of the impoundment.

Date: September 09, 2007
Location: East Branch of the DuPage River, in Glen Ellyn, IL. Off of Spring Rd. and just north of SR 53.
Water Level: Ranging from waist deep pools to ankle deep riffles. Water levels were at normal levels for this time of year.
Water Quality: Turbid and low gradient. Lots of siltation, not much of a riparian zone, and the stream appeared to be channelized here. The stream was probably less than 20m wide here.
Water Temp.: 24.22*C
Substrate: Sand and detritus, with lots of siltation. Lots of fallen trees in the water too. The banks were grass lined, and the overhanging vegetation supplied some cover for small fish. There were some small rocks that made up a small riffle.
Collected:
Common Carp (Cyprinus carpio) – these were very abundant here. It was not far upstream of an oxbow that I have visited at which there is a big carp population.
Common Carp x Goldfish (Cyprinus carpio x Carassius auratus) – only one was here.
Golden Shiner (Notemigonus crysoleucas)
Creek Chub (Semotilus atromaculatus) – only a few here.
Sand Shiner (Notropis stramineus stramineus) – a few were found in a shallow sandy run area where there was enough current to keep the substrate clean.
Central Bigmouth Shiner (Notropis dorsalis dorsalis) – these were found alongside the Sand Shiner, they seem to have the same habitat requirement of the Sand Shiner.
Spotfin Shiner (Cyprinella spiloptera)
Central Stoneroller Minnow (Campostoma anomalum pullum) – these were only found in the one small riffle area that was in the 200m stretch that we sampled.
Bluntnose Minnow (Pimephales notatus) – these were the most abundant fish in the sample, which is expected in this type of stream.
White Sucker (Catostomus commersoni) – a few were in the deeper pools. They are the most abundant sucker in this area of the river.
Yellow Bullhead (Ameiurus natalis) – these fish were in large numbers along the grassy banks and in the deeper pools. They were also near the fallen trees in the water.
Black Bullhead (Ameiurus melas) – only a few were here. It was odd to see so few of these when the Yellow Bullhead was so abundant. It seems that the Black Bullhead requires a little bit cleaner water conditions than the Yellow Bullhead.
Blackstripe Topminnow (Fundulus notatus) – these fish were almost everywhere here. They could be found near every patch of grass along the shoreline.
Northern Largemouth Bass (Micropterus salmoides salmoides) – lots. These fish are very abundant in this area of the river. It is really low gradient, and less than a mile downstream there is a large oxbow that has a big population of very large Largemouth Bass. No large fish were found here. It seems that the smaller ones live in the stream around the oxbow.
Northern Smallmouth Bass (Micropterus dolomieu dolomieu) – only one. It was surprising to find this one small bass in this low gradient area. In fact, this fish was found near the only riffle area in this stretch. Other higher gradient areas of this river have lots of large Smallmouth Bass.
Bluegill Sunfish (Lepomis macrochirus macrochirus) – we sampled over 100 of these in the 200m stretch.
Green Sunfish (Lepomis cyanellus) – lots of these were caught as well.
Orangespotted Sunfish (Lepomis humilis) – only a few of these were found.
Hybrid Sunfish (Lepomis hybrid) – the interesting thing about these hybrids is that they looked like they were Lepomis macrochirus macrochirus x Lepomis humilis. I have never seen this type of hybrid before. Brian Zimmerman took a picture of this type of hybrid at the Scioto River in south central Ohio. This is how the fish that we caught here looked.
Central Johnny Darter (Etheostoma nigrum nigrum) – only a few of these were caught. I think they were found near the only small riffle as well.

Notes: This site was sampled with a rollerbeast. It is an effective way to sample sites that are too large for a backpack shocker and too small for a boat. I was excited to do this spot because it was less than a mile from one of my favorite fishing spots from when I was growing up.

Hey Nate I think I put that fish down as a Central Longear x Orangespotted hybrid, but I could see how a bluegill orangespotted hybrid could look similar

Central Johnny Darter? I didn't know there was such a thing. How, may I ask, does it differ from other Johnny darters, and what generally is its range?

Brian, did you get pictures of a Lepomis macrochirus x L. humilis at all on the Scioto then?

Central Johnny Darter? I didn't know there was such a thing. How, may I ask, does it differ from other Johnny darters, and what generally is its range?

Bust out the Peterson's Field Guide. Page 291 has a diagram and at the top of page 292 there is this desription;

"Two subspecies. E. n. susanae, endemic to Cumberland R. drainage above Cumberland Falls, KY and TN, is extemely rare and, unlike E. n. nigrum, has a break in the eye stripe and no scales on top of head, on opecle, or along midbelly. Intergrades occupy headwaters of Kentucky R., KY."

Going on that, everything else to me is a Central Johnny Darter. But then, if you look at The Fishes of Ohio you get a look at the Scaly Johnny Darter E. n. eulepis. I think you've got that book. You can look over that.

Then, in The Fishes of Tennessee, by D. A. Etnier, and W. C. Starnes, it is stated on pg. 512 that;

"Underhill (1963) concluded that the mosaic distribution of eulepis populations within the range of E. n. nigrum and the presence of "integrades" in most populations was incompatible with accepted definitions of subspecies. Underhill's views are shared by us and most recent workers."

But, the annotated checklist on the nanfa site states only E. n. nigrum and E. n. eulepis. So, there's an answer for you? I've only got part 3 of the checklists though. I need to get the first 2.

-Nate

Brian, did you get pictures of a Lepomis macrochirus x L. humilis at all on the Scioto then?

I don't think so, I may have labled the picture wrong. Is that what it was labled as?

I think E. n. susanne has been elevated to species (in fact wasn't that Sexy Rexy's work?). Anyway, that was one of the species we were looking when we happened upon the fabled Rooster Scratch.

No susanne!
No, we did not catch that fish...
But we caught an arrow darter,
And a coupla' Notropis.

Todd

Edit: Here's the paper. Thought you guys might enjoy it.

 Mitochondrial_DNA_Variation_in_Johnny_Darters.pdf   203.17KB   59 downloads

I don't think so, I may have labled the picture wrong. Is that what it was labled as?

Nah, I don't have the original tag on it, I threw it into a Lepomis hybrid folder and re-labeled it.

Here's from the 1st day getting on the water with the crew that Brian was on...

Date: September 11, 2007
Location: DesPlaines River in Lockport, IL. About 500m upstream of the SR 7 bridge.
Water Level: Water levels were at normal levels for this time of year. Average depth of the river was 1.7 m. The river was really wide too. Some parts were over 200m across.
Water Quality: D.O.: 8.57 mg/L – Cond.: 724 Us/cm. Very turbid water with lots of siltation. At this point on the river, it was wide and slow moving.
Water Temp.: 22.16*C
Substrate: Lots of flooded timber along the shoreline. Muck and detritus covered the bottom towards the middle of the river. There were macrophytes in the marshy parts. Cement and cobble was the structure near the shoreline as well.
Collected:
Bowfin (Amia calva) - we got one large Bowfin near some flooded timber in a small oxbow that was at the widest part of the river.
Gizzard Shad (Dorosoma cepedianum) - only a few were caught. A lot more were seen, but the river was so wide that when the fish were shocked they would run away from the boat. These could have been the most abundant fish in the area, but with our methods of capture, we weren’t able to get to them.
Hornyhead Chub (Nocomis biguttatus) – only a few small ones were caught near some of the flooded timber along the shoreline.
Emerald Shiner (Notropis atherinoides) – one was caught. They are definitely more abundant than what our sample showed. It is difficult to sample the middle of the river (probably where these fish were in more numbers) because our electrical field only has so much range.
Sand Shiner (Notropis stramineus stramineus) – a few were caught here.
Spotfin Shiner (Cyprinella spiloptera) – only a few were caught but undoubtedly they were one of the more common fish in this river.
Fathead Minnow (Pimephales promelas)
Bluntnose Minnow (Pimephales notatus) – we collected more of these than any other fish in this sample.
Northern Quillback (Carpiodes cyprinus cyprinus) - an important identifying characteristic of this species of sucker is the lack of “nipple” on the bottom part of its lip. Also, the exaggerated first few spines of the dorsal fin, giving it the “quill” look. We only caught one here.
Channel Catfish (Ictalurus punctatus) - only one small one was found. Its barbs were eroded too. This was one of the anomalies we were checking for in the fish.
Western Mosquitofish (Gambusia affinis affinis) – only a few were sampled here.
Blackstripe Topminnow (Fundulus notatus) – more common than our sample indicated. We only caught a few, but others could be seen swimming about seemingly unaffected by the electrical current.
Black Crappie (Pomoxis nigromaculatus) - a few very nice sized ones were caught here near the flooded timber, although they were few and far between.
Northern Largemouth Bass (Micropterus salmoides salmoides) – only a few small ones were found. This was somewhat surprising considering there seemed to be suitable habitat for these fish.
Green Sunfish (Lepomis cyanellus)
Bluegill Sunfish (Lepomis macrochirus macrochirus)
Orangespotted Sunfish (Lepomis humilis)

Notes: Electrofished via a boat here. 500m were sampled. Brian was doing the netting and said that he also saw Northern Pike and Common Carp, but he couldn’t quite catch them. It was interesting to see the marshy area with flooded timber because it held a nice sized Bowfin. As more and more types of these areas are drained for development, these fish become rarer and rarer. This is especially true in the Chicagoland area.

I checked it out in the AFS book and E. susanae is in the latest edition (6th) as a seperate species. They cited the paper Todd posted as the description.

I checked it out in the AFS book and E. susanae is in the latest edition (6th) as a seperate species. They cited the paper Todd posted as the description.

Awesome, thanks for posting that paper, Todd. I hope that clears things up. I will change the C. Johnny Darters to regular dirty Johnny Darters...haha