Abstract
The taillight shiner, Notropis maculatus (Hay in Proc United States Natl Museum 3:488-515, 1881), primarily occurs in the southeastern United States, with rare occurrences in Illinois, where it is state listed as endangered. The first observation in Illinois was in 1987 and the species was last seen in the state in 1988. However, the taillight shiner was recently rediscovered in Buttonland Swamp within the Cache River watershed in September 2020 during fish community surveys. A total of 311 taillight shiners were captured from September 2020 to October 2022 within Buttonland Swamp using electrofishing, mini fyke nets, and light traps from the fish community surveys. Habitat associations were assessed using repeated measures mixed models and a conditional inference tree was developed to assess the probability of taillight shiner occurrence in electrofishing samples based on habitat variables and dissolved oxygen. We also assessed differences in taillight shiner length among years and seasons. Emergent vegetation was particularly important in predicting the occurrence of taillight shiners in samples, with dissolved oxygen and silt/clay also being important. Taillight shiner length distributions were similar among years and significantly different among seasons. Spawning occurred in spring, while post-spawn mortality occurred between June and August. This study provides important information regarding habitat associations, probability of occurrence in samples, recruitment, and timing of post-spawn mortality of taillight shiners in Illinois, which could inform future sampling efforts in Illinois and adjacent states. This rediscovery indicates that the taillight shiner is still present in Illinois and further search efforts to assess the species’ status in Illinois are needed.
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Data availability
The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon request.
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Acknowledgements
This research would not be possible without K. Bowe, F. Whalen, and G. McGoldrick who assisted in the field, and J. Hirst and B. Burr who provided guidance identifying fish. Funding for this study was provided by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) through the State Wildlife Grants program (project T-130-R-1) in cooperation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program. We also thank IDNR and Cypress Creek National Wildlife Refuge for granting access to their property.
Funding
This study was funded by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service under project T-130.
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Conceived and designed the investigation: HH, AM. Performed field and/or laboratory work: HH, AM. Analyzed the data: HH, AM. Contributed materials, reagents, and/or analysis tools: HH, AM, GW, BM. Wrote the paper: HH, AM, GW, BM. Acquired funding: GW. All authors contributed edits and comments toward the final manuscript.
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This project was conducted in compliance with Animal Welfare Act Regulations, the Public Health Service Policy on Humane Care and Use of Laboratory Animals, the Ag Guide, and the NIH Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals. The research protocol was approved by the Animal Study Protocol (Protocol No. 19-035). Handling of specimen were approved by Illinois Department of Natural Resources and was in accordance with their Endangered and Threatened Species Permit guidelines (Permit No. 14360 and NH22.6362). The Illinois Nature Preserves Commission approved this research protocol, which was also in compliance with the Illinois Natural Areas Preservation Act (525 ILCS 30), Rules for Management of Illinois Nature Preserves (17 Ill. Admin. Code 4000), and Regulation of Public Use of Illinois Dedicated Nature Preserves (17 Ill. Admin. Code 4015).
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The authors declare no competing interests.
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Holmquist, H.M., Macedo, A.D., Metzke, B.A. et al. Habitat associations and demographics of a newly recorded population of taillight shiner in Illinois. Environ Biol Fish 107, 5–18 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10641-023-01485-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10641-023-01485-z