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Etheostoma punctulatum (Stippled Darter) was recently redescribed to recognize 2 additional species, E. autumnale (Autumn Darter) and E. mihileze (Sunburst Darter), as part of the E. punctulatum species complex. This taxonomic update rendered the collection of Stippled Darters in the Arkansas Tech Fish Collection (ATFC) inaccurate since the stored specimens were collected well before and just after the redescriptions. Upon reassessment, we found that the ATFC did not contain any specimens now considered as Stippled Darters but, instead, contained specimens of the 2 newly described species and misidentified Nothonotus juliae (Yoke Darter). We concluded that the collection consisted of 54 Autumn Darters, 96 Sunburst Darters, and 220 Yoke Darters. Additionally, external quantitative and qualitative characteristics did not exactly follow the expected trends as laid out in the study that described the new species. This study serves as a small, but clear, example of the importance of curating and updating natural history collections like that of the ATFC, for they play a vital role in a number of different areas of study including biogeographic range changes, phenological shifts, evolutionary changes, and more. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The distribution of mussels is known from most major water bodies in the United States. Even so, the distribution of mussels in tributary systems of these water bodies is not well documented, especially in Arkansas. Moreover, there has never been a watershed-wide mussel survey in the Moro Creek watershed. During a recent study of fishes in this watershed, we observed 5 mussel species at 12 sites: Lampsilis hydiana (Louisiana Fatmucket), Sagittunio subrostratus (Pondmussel), Pyganodon grandis (Giant Floater), Toxolasma texasiense (Texas Lilliput), and Uniomerus declivis (Tapered Pondhorn). We observed a total of 34 live individuals and 8 fresh-dead specimens. The most abundant species documented was the Tapered Pondhorn, with18 (13 alive and 5 fresh-dead) individuals at 5 sites. The least abundant species was Giant Floater, with 1 individual at 1 site. There was evidence of recent recruitment in 2 species, Tapered Pondhorn (median total length [TL] = 71 mm; min-max = 28-99 mm), and Texas Lilliput (median TL = 21 mm; min-max = 13-40 mm). Future studies that target tributaries of the Ouachita, Red, and St. Francis drainages of Arkansas are likely to yield new distributional records for these species as well as others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Sickle Darter Percina williamsi (Page and Near, 2007) is a species of fish endemic to the upper Tennessee River basin in eastern Tennessee, southwestern Virginia, and western North Carolina. Because of its narrow range and presumed decline in occupied sites over the last half century, it is being proposed for federal listing under the Endangered Species Act. We analyzed the current distribution of the Sickle Darter and temporal trends in its distribution in relation to temporal trends in environmental and habitat covariates for each of the historically occupied sub‐basins (upper Clinch, Emory, upper French Broad, Little, Little Pigeon, Middle Fork Holston, North Fork Holston, Powell, South Fork Holston, and Watauga) with multiple linear regression modelling. A total of 154 Sickle Darters were observed at 15 sites throughout the upper Tennessee River Basin. Sickle Darters were observed in the Little River, Emory River, and Middle Fork Holston River sub‐basins. A total of 133 unique historical occurrences were used for the spatiotemporal analyses. Sickle Darters have declined in 8 out of 10 historically occupied sub‐basins. Our best model for the whole distribution scale (Mallow's Cp = −0.87; Adjusted R2 =.92) suggests that habitat fragmentation due to damming has had adverse effects on Sickle Darter populations across its distribution. Models were very similar for the sub‐basin specific models as well. The results from this study highlight the drivers of decline in Sickle Darter distribution and outline the future research needs for this species that should be used to inform future conservation decisions regarding this species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]