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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]