Abstract
Routine fish sampling with hoop nets was conducted monthly from April through December 1978 along natural and revetted riverbanks on the lower Mississippi River near Eudora, Arkansas, to monitor changes in fish populations affected by placement of new revetment for bank protection. Eighteen species of fish were collected with four species comprising over 75% of the total catch. During the months prior to revetment placement, freshwater drum, Aplodinotus grunniens, was the most abundant (32.7% of the catch) species collected. Following in abundance were the flathead catfish, Pylodictis olivaris, (9.8%), common carp, Cyprinus carpio, (7.8%), and blue catfish, Ictalurus furcatus, (3.3%). After revetment placement in August 1978, the freshwater drum was again the most abundant component, comprising 9.7% of the catch. Gizzard shad, Dorosoma cepedianum, flathead catfish, and blue catfish followed in abundance and comprised 8.9, 4.1, and 3.4% of the total catch, respectively. Catch per effort data indicated that fish were generally more abundant at natural bank stations than revetted bank stations but the difference was not significant. The study suggests that fish inhabiting natural riverbank habitat recover quite rapidly from bank perturbation caused by the placement of revetment.
Recommended Citation
Pennington, C. H.; Knight, S. S.; and Farrell, M. P.
(1985)
"Response of Fishes to Revetment Placement,"
Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science: Vol. 39, Article 24.
Available at:
https://scholarworks.uark.edu/jaas/vol39/iss1/24
