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The distribution of the Topeka shiner, Notropis topeka, in Kansas centers on the Flint Hills tributaries of the Kansas and Arkansas rivers. A recent collection of a single adult Topeka shiner outside this region in Buck Creek, Jefferson County, Kansas is documented. The Topeka shiner, Notropis topeka (Gilbert), is a threatened fish species in Kansas (Platt et al., 1974; Hlavachick, 1978) and has in most recent times been associated mainly with small streams draining Flint Hills' uplands in the Kansas and Arkansas river systems (Minckley and Cross, 1959; Metcalf, 1966; Cross, 1967; Cross and Collins, 1975). Considering the decimation of N. topeka populations in most Kansas streams, the possibility that other populations exist outside the Flint Hills region is noteworthy, and may be important in the continued survival of this species in Kansas. On 10 March 1980 a single adult Notropis topeka (KU 18601) was obtained by the authors and Scott W. Campbell using a 15 x 4 foot nylon mesh seine from Buck Creek in Jefferson County, Kansas. This capture of N. topeka is the first record of this species in Jefferson County, and the first such capture in the Kansas River system north of the Kansas River and east of the Blue River drainage. Buck Creek is 11-12 km in length and is a direct tributary of the Kansas River which flows through the Osage Cuesta physiographic region of northeastern Kansas (Metcalf, 1966). The site of capture (Sec. 27, T.11S, R.19E) was approximately 2.5 km upstream from the confluence of Buck Creek with the Kansas River, and consisted of a straight portion of the channel with slow current over a clay and gravel substrate with stream depths from 0.5 to 1.0 m. Other species of fishes collected at this locality included: Cyprinus carpio, Semotilus atromaculatus, Phenacobius mirabilis, Notropis umbratilis, N. lutrensis, N. stramineus, Pimephales notatus, Campostoma anomalum, This content downloaded from 157.55.39.102 on Fri, 23 Dec 2016 04:52:42 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms 58 TRANSACTIONS OF THE KANSAS ACADEMY OF SCIENCES Catostomus commersoni, Ictalurus melas, Noturus exilis, Lepomis cyanellus, and Etheostoma spectabile. Further collections are necessary in order to ascertain whether the specimen was a stray that made its way into Buck Creek from one of the Flint Hills streams via the Kansas River, or a member of a resident population within the stream. In our opinion, the probability of this individual being a stray from a Flint Hills stream is small. N. exilis is another fish species that is considered very uncommon north of the Kansas River and is a typical resident of streams in the Kansas River system portion of the Flint Hills region (Metcalf, 1966; Cross, 1967). One specimen (KU 18725) was taken on 10 March 1980 at the same locality as the Notropis topeka was captured (Sec. 27, T.1 IS, R.19E) and numerous individuals (KU 18676) were taken on 20 September 1980 (Sec. 3, T. 11S, R.19E).

A new distributional record in Geary County for the slender madtom (Noturus exilis) was documented by Layher and Wood (1986). That record consisted of one specimen (KU 21086) captured on 18 May 1984 from East Branch Humboldt Creek. A second specimen (KU 21424) was taken on 22 April 1986 by Layher and Wood from Davis Creek, Geary County, E 1/2 Sec. 2, T13S, R6E. This collection contained five other species: central stoneroller, Campostoma anomalum, (1 specimen; KU 21417); common shiner, Notropis cornutus (1 specimen; KU 21418); southern redbelly dace, Phoxinus erythrogaster (3 specimens; KU 21422); creek chub, Semotilus atromaculatus (1 specimen; KU 21423); and orangethroat darter, Etheostoma spectabile (1 specimen; KU 21425). The collection from Davis Creek also included three specimens of the rosyface shiner (Notropis rubellus) (KU 21420), and one hybrid, N. rubellus x N. cornutus (KU 21419). These represent the first record of the rosyface shiner in Geary County. Another collection on 22 April 1986, from Dry Creek in Sec. 17, T16S, R7E, Geary County, also contained rosyface shiners (2 specimens; KU 21413). Other fishes in that collection were the topeka shiner, Notropis topeka (1 specimen; KU 21414); redfin shiner, Notropis umbratilis (1 specimen; KU 21415); and orangethroat darter (1 specimen; KU 21416). Collections from numerous other streams in Geary County during the same week did not include either the rosyface shiner or the slender madtom. Previous stream surveys by the Kansas Fish and Game Commission, chiefly in the 1970's, provided no evidence of the occurrence of either species in Geary County (Layher and Brunson, 1986). The rosyface shiner and slender madtom normally inhabit permanently flowing, clear, upland streams with alternating pools and limestone riffles. In the Kansas River basin, both species are most abundant in Flint Hills streams, especially those of the Mill Creek drainage in Wabaunsee County (Metcalf, 1965; Cross, 1967). The Geary County sites are farther west in the Kansas River basin than any localities previously known for either species, but are within the Flint Hills upland; populations of both may long have

Notropis topeka (Gilbert) occurs from "Minnesota and South Dakota south through Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, and Missouri" (Moore, 1957:134). Compared with distributions of other plains fishes, this range is small. No other fish has a similar area of distribution. In Kansas, N. topeka has been reported from scattered localities that indicate its presence throughout the northern part of the state (Kansas River Basin) and in part of the Arkansas River Basin in south-central Kansas (Fig. 1). Approximately 37 localities are represented, 10 of which are west of 970 longitude. Nine of the 10 western records were obtained between 1882 and 1887 when the first general surveys of fishes were made in Kansas (Gilbert, 1885:98, 1886:210, 1889:39; Cragin, 1885:108; Evermann and Fordice, 1886: 185; Hay, 1888:245, 248, 251, 252 [as Notropis aeneolus Hay], 246). The tenth record is a single specimen (KU 3108) obtained by A. B. Leonard and A. B. Williams from Cherry Creek, Cheyenne County, in April, 1947. Other recent collections west of 970 longitude have not included Topeka shiners. Breukelman (1940a) failed to find them in extensive surveys of streams in northwestern Kansas, and in 1958, Cross and B. C. Nelson did not find N. topeka at any of 30 western localities, including all those cited by Gilbert, Cragin, and Hay. In the Kansas River Basin east of 970 longitude, N. topeka was reported from three localities between 1882 and 1887 (Gilbert, 1884 [types from Shunganunga Creek, Shawnee County, described as Cliola (Hybopsis) topeka], 1886:210; Graham, 1885:73). Graham's record may be erroneous, because it evidently was based on the same collection from the Missouri River that was reported by Jordan and Meek (1886:12-14), who did not list the Topeka shiner from that locality. Breukelman (1940b: 380), reporting on fish in the University of Kansas Museum of Natural History, tabulated 27 specimens from the "Kansas [river], and tributaries not otherwise named." Presumably, this record refers to specimens collected by the State Biological Survey in 1912, from Rock Creek, Douglas County. Jennings (1942: 365) listed N. topeka from two localities, one of which is the only record from the Marais des Cygnes System (Missouri River Drainage). Minckley (1956:353-354) reported one additional locality in the Kansas Basin. The species is now known from many other streams in the eastern part of the basin, mostly in the Flint Hills Region. All of the older records from the Arkansas River System are west of 970 longitude, except for two specimens (formerly Indiana Uni