Diversity and distribution of the fishes of Elk River, West Virginia

Abstract

The checklist of West Virginia fishes was recently updated to nearly 200 species. The number of fish taxa and that of native and non-native species differ among major drainage basins: lower Kanawha (107 native, 24 non-native species), mainstem Ohio (101, 20), Monongahela (84, 22), Little Kanawha (87, 10), Big Sandy (88, 6), upper Kanawha (32, 62), Guyandotte (79, 6), Potomac (34, 51), and James (24, 8). The high diversity of the lower Kanawha River is influenced solely by a single tributary, Elk River. In this presentation, we celebrate the Elk River’s species diversity, a number that exceeds 100 and includes 21 darters. The Elk River’s story of fishes is not final but ongoing. We discuss the history of fish collections, recent updates to the faunal list, and conservation concerns regarding predicted invasions of non-native species.