The Long-term Illinois River Fish Population Monitoring Program

F-lOl-R

Final Report

Todd M. Koel and Richard E. Sparks

Illinois Natural History Survey

LTRMP Havana Field Station

704 North Schrader Avenue

Havana, Illinois 62644-1055

November 1999

Center for Aquatic Ecology Technical Report 99/15

The Long-term Illinois River Fish Population Monitoring Program

F-101-R Final Report

Todd M. Koel and Richard E. Sparks

Illinois Natural History Survey LTRMP Havana Field Station 704 North Schrader Avenue Havana, Illinois 62644-1055

November 1999

Dr. Todd M. Kbalr^rincipal Investigator 6r. Richard E. Sparks, C9^lnvestigator

Center for Aquatic Ecology Center for Aquatic Ecology

Illinois Natural History Survey Illinois Natural History Survey

Dr. Daniel Soluk, Director Center for Aquatic Ecology Illinois Natural History Survey

The Long-term Illinois River Fish Population Monitoring Program

F-101-R

Segments 6-10

Final Report

to be submitted to the

Illinois Department of Natural Resources

and

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

by Todd M. Koel and Richard E. Sparks

Illinois Natural History Survey LTRMP Havana Field Station 704 North Schrader Avenue Havana, Illinois 62644-1055

November 1999

DISCLAIMER

The findings, conclusions, and views expressed herein are those of the researchers and should not be considered as the official position of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service or the Illinois Department of Natural Resources.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF SUPPORT

The Long-term Illinois River Fish Population Monitoring Program (F-101-R) is supported by the Federal Aid in Sport Fish Restoration Act (P.L. 81-681, Dingell- Johnson/Wallop-Breaux).

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

During late August and September each year 1994-1998, we sampled 26 sites on the Illinois River WatenA/ay and one site on Reach 26 of the Mississippi River by electrofishing to monitor fish communities. From 1994-1998, we collected a total of 25,921 fish representing 62 species (plus five hybrids) from fourteen families during 125.70 hours of sampling at 26 sites on the Illinois Watenway and a single site on the Mississippi River. Of these fishes, 25,278 individuals were collected from the Illinois Waterway sites, and 643 were collected from Brickhouse Slough of the Mississippi River. The year with the greatest overall catch of fishes was 1995 (7941 individuals, CPUEn = 325 fish per hour) and the year with the lowest overall catch of fishes was 1994 (3421 individuals, CPUEn = 131 fish per hour). For all stations combined, the greatest number of species were collected in 1995 (48 species plus 3 hybrids) and the least were in 1997 (38 species plus 4 hybrids). The number of species collected from upper waterway reaches ranged from 12 for Starved Rock in 1996 to 24 for Marseilles in 1995. The number of species collected from middle river reaches ranged from 23 for La Grange Reach in 1997 to 34 for Peoria Reach in 1996. The number of species collected from the lower river (Alton Reach) ranged from 18 in 1994 to 25 in 1995. The Peoria Reach consistently had highest species richness during all years (1 994-1 998) of sampling for this project.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Title and Signature Page i

DISCLAIMER ii

ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF SUPPORT ii

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS iv

LIST OF TABLES vi

LIST OF FIGURES x

INDEX TO JOB ACCOMPLISHMENTS xi

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS xii

INTRODUCTION 1

STUDY AREA 1

MATERIALS AND METHODS 2

A. Criteria for Sampling 9

B. Data Analysis 10

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 11

A. Project F-101-R Field Sampling, 1994-1998 11

B. Electrofishing Stations 12

1994 12

1995 12

1996 13

1997 13

1998 14

C. Catch Rates in Numbers of Individuals Collected per Hour 14

Numbers of Fish Collected 14

Rankings by Relative Abundance 25

CPUEn of Five Most Numerically Abundant Species 26

D. Catch Rates in Weights (pounds) Collected per Hour 32

E. Details of 1998 Sampling 44

CONCLUSIONS 44

LITERATURE CITED 48

APPENDIX A 50

APPENDIX B 52

APPENDIX C 53

APPENDIX D 54

APPENDIX E 55

APPENDIX F 56

APPENDIX G 57

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1. Station information and characteristics during sampling

in 1994 4

Table 2. Station information and characteristics during sampling

in 1995 5

Table 3. Station information and characteristics during sampling

in 1996 6

Table 4. Station information and characteristics during sampling

in 1997 7

Table 5. Station information and characteristics during sampling

in 1998 8

Table 6. Numbers of individuals of each fish species collected per hour of electrofishing on Reach 26 of the Mississippi River (Brickhouse Slough) and on six reaches of the Illinois River Waterway in 1 994 15

Table 7. Species ranked by relative abundance in number of fish

collected per hour for 1 994 16

Table 8. Numbers of individuals of each fish species collected per hour of electrofishing on Reach 26 of the Mississippi River (Brickhouse Slough) and on six reaches of the Illinois River Waterway in 1995 17

Table 9. Species ranked by relative abundance in number offish

collected per hour for 1995 18

Table 10. Numbers of individuals of each fish species collected per hour of electrofishing on Reach 26 of the Mississippi River (Brickhouse Slough) and on six reaches of the Illinois River Waterway in 1996 19

Table 1 1 . Species ranked by relative abundance in number of fish

collected per hour for 1 996 20

Table 12. Numbers of individuals of each fish species collected per hour of electrofishing on Reach 26 of the Mississippi River (Brickhouse Slough) and on six reaches of the Illinois River Waterway in 1 997 21

Table 13. Species ranked by relative abundance in number of fish

collected per hour for 1 997 , 22

Table 14. Numbers of individuals of each fish species collected per hour of electrofishing on Reach 26 of the Mississippi River (Brickhouse Slough) and on six reaches of the Illinois River WatenA/ay in 1998 23

Table 15. Species ranked by relative abundance in number of fish

collected per hour for 1 998 24

Table 16. Pounds of each fish species collected per hour of electrofishing on Reach 26 of the Mississippi River (Brickhouse Slough) and on six reaches of the Illinois River Waterway in 1 994 33

Table 17. Species ranked by relative abundance in pounds offish

collected per hour for 1 994 34

Table 18. Pounds of each fish species collected per hour of electrofishing on Reach 26 of the Mississippi River (Brickhouse Slough) and on six reaches of the Illinois River WatenA/ay in 1 995 35

Table 19. Species ranked by relative abundance in pounds offish

collected per hour for 1 995 36

Table 20. Pounds of each fish species collected per hour of electrofishing on Reach 26 of the Mississippi River (Brickhouse Slough) and on six reaches of the Illinois River WatenA/ay in 1 996 37

Table 21. Species ranked by relative abundance in pounds offish

collected per hour for 1 996 38

Table 22. Pounds of each fish species collected per hour of electrofishing on Reach 26 of the Mississippi River (Brickhouse Slough) and on six reaches of the Illinois River Waterway in 1 997 39

Table 23. Species ranked by relative abundance in pounds offish

collected per hour for 1 997 40

Table 24. Pounds of each fish species collected per hour of electrofishing on Reach 26 of the Mississippi River (Brickhouse Slough) and on six reaches of the Illinois River Waterway in 1 998 41

Table 25. Species ranked by relative abundance in pounds offish

collected per hour for 1998 42

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1 . Three segments of the Illinois River sampled by

electrofishing to monitor fish communities in 1997 3

Figure 2. Catch per hour of gizzard shad from 1 994 through 1 998

in the lower, middle, and upper Illinois River waterway 27

Figures. Catch per hour of common carp from 1994 through 1998

in the lower, middle, and upper Illinois River waterway 28

Figure 4. Catch per hour of emerald shiner from 1 994 through 1 998

in the lower, middle, and upper Illinois River watenA/ay 29

Figure 5. Catch per hour of bluegill from 1994 through 1998

in the lower, middle, and upper Illinois River watenway 30

Figure 6. Catch per hour of freshwater drum from 1 994 through 1 998

in the lower, middle, and upper Illinois River waterway 31

INDEX TO JOB ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Job V Prepare electrofishing equipment and train staff 11

Job 2 Sample by electrofishing at 27 sites along the Illinois

River Waterway and Reach 26 of the Mississippi River 11

Job 3 Update computer database

Job 4 Analyze data

11

11

Job 5 Presentation of results 12

^Job numbers and titles refer to the F-101-R annual work plans

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Project F-101-R is supported by the Federal Aid to Sportfish Restoration Act (P.L. 81-681, Dingell-Johnson/Wallop-Breaux), with funds administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Illinois Departnnent of Natural Resources (IDNR). Mr. Larry Dunham (IDNR); Mr. Bill Bertrand (IDNR); Mr. Michael Sweet (IDNR); Dr. David Thomas, Chief of the Illinois Natural History Survey (INHS); Dr. Edward Armbrust, Acting Chief (INHS); and Dr. David Philipp, former Director of the Center for Aquatic Ecology (INHS); provided administrative support. Ms. Cammy Smith of the Long Term Resource Monitoring Program Field Station at Havana provided secretarial support and data entry and verification. Mr. Thad Cook, Mr. Kip Stevenson, and Mr. Scott Whitney assisted with the field work. Mr. K. Douglas Blodgett was Co-Investigator of this project until 1998. Mr. Thomas Lerczak was Project Manager until 1995. This survey was originally conceived and initiated in 1957 by the late Dr. William C. Starrett.

INTRODUCTION

The goals of the Long-term Illinois River Fish Population Monitoring Program include: 1) determination of spatial and temporal trends in fish populations of the Illinois River; 2) Develop a long-term fisheries database useful for evaluating resource management strategies; and 3) provide information required to manage the fishery of the Illinois River. This report presents a summary of data collected 1994- 1998 during segments 6-10 of federal aid project F-101-R, The Long-term Illinois River Fish Population Monitoring Program. Previous summaries of the long-term data set, begun in 1957, were given by Sparks and Starrett (1975), Sparks (1977), Sparks and Lerczak (1993), Lerczak and Sparks (1994), and Lerczak et al. (1994). The annual reports for project F-101-R have continuously built on previously collected data. The format used in this report is patterned after previous annual reports of this project (Lerczak et al. 1993, 1994, 1995, and 1996 and Koel et al. 1997 and 1998) to allow for easy comparisons of data among years. The objective of this report is to provide a summary document of Illinois River fish population data collected 1994-1998 during federal aid project F-101-R.

STUDY AREA

Twenty-six fish sampling sites were at fixed locations along the Illinois Waterway as defined by Sparks and Starrett (1975:347) and Lerczak et al. (1994:9)

(Table 1). Twenty-four of the sites were along the Illinois River, with two additional sites on the lower Des Plaines River, which along with the Illinois River is part of the Illinois Waterway. One additional site was on the Mississippi River (Figure 1). Seventeen of the sites were in side channels; the rest of the sites were in other habitats, including the main channel border, or in a combination of habitat types (see Lerczak et al. 1994:9). By calculating the average river mile of each fish sampling site for the total period of record (1957-present), the sites were "renamed" in 1998 to reflect river mile (Figure 1). For this and all subsequent reports, we will refer to sites by these approximate average river miles (site mile. Tables 1-5) for use in all figures and tables. In text we will refer to sites by average river mile as well as by common site descriptions (e.g., Brickhouse Slough, Mortland Island, etc.).

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Fish populations were sampled by electrofishing from a 16-ft (5-m) aluminum boat using a Homelite 3000-watt, three-phase AC electric generator. Boat configuration includes three poles extended from the bow with metal electrodes, connecting to the electric generator, extended from the ends of the poles to approximately 20 inches (0.5 m) below the water line. The same generator and electrode configuration have been used since 1957.

Prior to fish sampling, water quality and flow measurements (e.g., dissolved

Des Plaines River.

Upper Waterway

Lake Michigan

Kankakee River

e River	\
River Mile	Site Name
2798	Treats Island
277 3	Du Page River
2506	Waupecan Island
2496	Johnson Island
248 0	Ballards Island
241.5	Bulls Island Bend
2408	Bulls Island
215,3	Clark Island
207 6	Hennepin
203 3	Upper Twin Sister
2028	Lower Twin Sister
193.8	Henry Island
180.6	Chlllicothe
170.3	Lambie's Boat Harbor
163.3	Lower Peoria Lake
155.1	Pekin
148.0	Turkey Island
113.0	Upper Bath Chute
107.0	Lower Bath Chute
95.1	Sugar Creek Island
86.5	Grape-Bar Islands
58.3	Big Blue Island
300	Crater-Willow Islands
268	Hurricane Island
24.7	Dark Chute
19.0	Mortland Island
00	Bnckhouse Slough

Mississippi, River

Figure 1 . Three segments of the Illinois River Waterway sampled by electrofishing to monitor fish communities during August and September, 1994-1998.

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oxygen, specific conductance, temperature, surface velocity) were taken at the upstream end of each site. Sampling at each site typically lasted one hour, with all obvious structure (e.g. downed trees, woody debris, rock rip-rap) intensively sampled for fishes. Stunned fish were gathered with a dip net (1/4-in [0.64-cm] mesh) and stored in an oxygenated livewell until sampling was completed. Fish were then identified to species, measured (total length and weight), inspected for externally visible abnormalities (sores, fin erosion, etc.), and returned to the water. A detailed description of the electrofishing method and equipment are provided by Lerczak et al. (1994, Appendix A).

A. Criteria for Sampling

Fish collection by the Long-term Illinois River Fish Population Monitoring Program occurs during the last week in August and September each year to increase the probability of collecting young-of-year fishes with a 1/4 inch mesh dip net. Sampling at each site is only conducted if river water levels are low and stable, as determined by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, who maintain gage sites along the length of the Illinois River waterway. Also, sampling for this project does not occur if water temperatures have fallen unseasonably low (below 58 C), which are not typically reached on the Illinois River until mid-October (Kofoid 1903, LTRMP unpublished data 1999).

B. Data Analysis

At each site, number of individual fish and total weight (pounds) were tallied for each species. Fish catch rates were calculated as the number of individuals collected per hour of electrofishing (CPUEn) and as weight in pounds collected per hour of electrofishing (CPUEw). For 1 994-1 998, data from sites were grouped into reaches defined by navigation dams (Figure 1) as follows: Alton Reach, river mile (RM) 0-80; La Grange Reach, RM 80-158; Peoria Reach, RM 158-231; Starved Rock Reach, RM 231-247; Marseilles Reach, RM 247-271.5; and Dresden Reach, RM 271.5-286 on the Des Plaines River. Data from reaches were combined further into three groups (lower and middle Illinois River segments, and the upper Illinois Waterway segment) defined by their location along the river and by the amount of off-channel habitat accessible to fish per unit length of river (Lerczak et al. 1994:5 and Figure 1 ). Lerczak et al. (1 994, 1 995, and 1 996) showed that river fish communities of the three segments differed substantially enough to give segment designations biological meaning. Separate tables were constructed listing only those species that accounted for at least 95% of the total catch rates. This percentage was arbitrarily chosen to emphasize species of most importance in analyzing fish community composition.

10

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION (Job 4)

A. Project F-101-R Field Sampling, 1994-1998

Before each fish sampling season began, all equipment was tested and repaired as necessary. Due to the arrival of the new project manager Koel, and loss of all senior staff from the Havana Field Station during this project, training for new staff was more intensive than that needed in recent years; new staff were trained in electrofishing methods and safety procedures (Job 1). All field sampling for this project occurred during late August and September each year, with typically one hour spent electrofishing at each of 27 fixed sites, each year (Job 2).

The long-term database was converted from R-Base computer format to an updated, Microsoft Access 97 format. Data collected during F-101-R were entered directly into this database, and verified against original field data sheets until no errors were detected (Job 3). The original data sheets of this project (1957-1997) were originally stored in a vault along Quiver Creek at Forbes Biological Station. Due to moisture problems and a fire hazard within this vault, the data were moved and are now stored in flame-resistant cabinets at the Long Term Resource Monitoring Program Field Station at 704 N. Schrader Avenue, Havana (Job 3). Data analysis has occurred at the LTRMP Havana Field Station (Job 4) with results presented at several public and scientific meetings.

11

B. Electrofishing Stations

All 27 long-term sites were sampled for fishes and physio-chemical parameters each year from 1994-1997. Site listings and water quality parameters are provided by Tables 1-5 (Job 5). All values were within the ranges expected based upon previous sampling (see Lerczak et al. 1994:17-24). All sites were sampled with water temperatures and river levels (Tables 1-5) within our previously established criteria.

1994. All stations were sampled between 22 August and 29 September 1994, taking 27.95 hours, with sampling times ranging from 0.5 to 1 .0 hour (Table 1 ). Sampling was conducted in full daylight between the hours of 8:45 AM and 6:45 PM. The ranges for physical measurements during the 1994 sampling season were as follows: air temperature, 57.9-91.4 F; water temperature, 72.7-83.1 F; dissolved oxygen concentration, 4.5-11.3 ppm; Secchi disk transparency, 5.9-27.6 inches; specific conductance, 350-700 umbos; surface velocity, 0.0-1.4 ft/s; water depth, 0.3- 6.6 ft (Table 1).

1995. All stations were sampled between 29 August and 25 September 1995, taking 25.00 hours, with sampling times ranging from 0.5 to 1.0 hour (Table 2). Sampling was conducted in full daylight between the hours of 9:15 AM and 5:30 PM. The ranges for physical measurements during the 1995 sampling season were as

12

follows: air temperature, 59.4-89.4 F; water temperature, 62.1-88.9 F; dissolved oxygen concentration, 5.7-13.0 ppm; Secchi disk transparency, 5.9-26.8 inches; specific conductance, 350-800 umhos; surface velocity, 0.0-1 .4 ft/s; water depth, 0.3- 9.8 ft (Table 2).

1996. All stations were sampled between 26 August and 19 September 1996, taking 24.75 hours, with sampling times ranging from 0.5 to 1.0 hour (Table 3). Sampling was conducted in full daylight between the hours of 7:40 AM and 7:25 PM. The ranges for physical measurements during the 1996 sampling season were as follows: air temperature, 59.9-83.3 F; water temperature, 66.6-86.7 F; dissolved oxygen concentration, 3.6-13.9 ppm; Secchi disk transparency, 6.7-28.7 inches; specific conductance, 380-760 umhos; surface velocity, 0.0-1.5 ft/s; water depth, 0.1- 5.0 ft (Table 3).

1997. All stations were sampled between 2 September and 3 October 1997, taking 25.00 hours, with sampling times ranging from 0.5 to 1.0 hour (Table 4). Sampling was conducted in full daylight between the hours of 8:00 AM and 4:45 PM. The ranges for physical measurements during the 1997 sampling season were as follows: air temperature, 54.0-79.7 F; water temperature, 65.3-80.4 F; dissolved oxygen concentration, 5.8-10.8 ppm; Secchi disk transparency, 5.3-23.6 inches; specific conductance, 390-725 umhos; surface velocity, 0.1-1.6 ft/s; water depth, 0.1- 5.0 ft (Table 4).

13

1998. All stations were sampled between 31 August and 23 September 1998, taking 26.00 hours, with sampling times ranging from 0.5 to 1.0 hour (Table 5). Sampling was conducted in full daylight between the hours of 8:45 AM and 6:30 PM. The ranges for physical measurements during the 1998 sampling season were as follows: air temperature, (not measured); water temperature, 73.9-86.9 F; dissolved oxygen concentration, 5.0-8.4 ppm; Secchi disk transparency, 5.9-23.6 inches; specific conductance, 443-835 umbos; surface velocity, 0.0-1.1 ft/s; water depth, 0.0- 14.0 ft (Table 5).

C. Catch Rates in Numbers of Individuals

In this report, for each year (1994-1998) catch rates of the number of individuals collected per hour of electrofishing are calculated for each of the seven Illinois River navigation reaches (Figure 1). Similar summaries are presented for fish weights. Common names used throughout this report follow Robins et al. (1991). Common and scientific names are listed in APPENDIX A. Number of individuals of each fish species collected per hour of electrofishing and species rankings by waterway reach and year are summarized by Tables 6 through 15.

Numbers of Fish Collected From 1994-1998, we collected a total of 25,921 fish representing 62 species (plus five hybrids) from fourteen families during 125.70 hours of sampling at 26 sites on the Illinois Watenway and a single site on the

14

Table 6 Number of individuals of each fisfi species River (Brickhouse Slough) and at six reaches of the

collected per hour of electrofishmg (CPUEn) at Reach 26 of the Mississippi Illinois River Waterway in 1 994

Reach and Hours Fished

SpecK

Alton La Grange 5 00 6 50

	Starved			Overall
Peoria	Rock	Marseilles	Dresden	CPUEn
6 95	2 00	2 50	2 00	26,95

Lepisosteidae longnose gar Amiidae

Clupeidae

gizzard shad

skipjack hernng

threadfin shad Hiodontidae

goldeye Cypnnidae

bullhead minnow

bluntnose minnow

common carp

common carp x goldfish

emerald shiner

golden shiner

goldfish

minnow (unid )

red shiner

sand shiner

silver chub

spottail shiner Catostomidae

bigmouth buffalo

golden redhorse

highfin carpsucker

northern hog sucker

quillback

nver carpsucker

shorthead redhorse

smallmouth buffalo Ictalundae

channel catfish

flathead catfish

yellow bullhead Athennidae

brook silverside Percichthyidae

white bass Centrarchidae

black crappie

bluegill

bluegill X green sunfish

green sunfish

largemouth bass

orangespotted sunfish

pumpkinseed

redear sunfish

rock bass

smallmouth bass

warmouth

white crappie Percidae

sauger

slenderhead darter Sciaenidae

1200 2,00

0 20 12 40 0 40

16 20 0 20

0 40

1071	6 47 0 86 6 33	7 00
0 24	0 29	1 50
0 12	0 58	8 00
24 12	6 91	4 00
165	18 56	21 00
012	0 43 0 29
1 29	1.01 0.43	1 00 400
624	4.17
012	0 43 0 14	0 50 0 50
012	3 02	050
1 88	2 45
4 82	5 90	9 00
4 94	1 73	450

2 50	10 35	5 18
9 20	11 41	2 16
14 60	3071	31 94 0 58
0 80	0 59	12 95
7 40	4 35	5 18

012 0 35

0 29 0 72

026 1.71

26 80	68 50	1 19
1 20	4 00	7 68
3 60	950	12 10
0 80	3 50	0 33
31 20	10 00	10 98
0 80	250	0 26
	0 50	019
0 40		Oil
2 40		071
6 80		0 93 0 30

0 04 0 04

0 04

1 04 1.30 4.68

5.49

0 26

0 07

10 00	29 31
0 50	0 19
14 50	501
100	5 34
0 50	0 22
050	0 04
	0 04
1 00	0 04
5 00	0 93
	022
	0.37

freshwater drum	27 00	12 40	12 82	11 22		200	0 50	1046
Total number per hour Number of species/hybnds	111 00 15/0	121 80 18/0	12941 26/0	130 94 28/1	73 00 18/0	122 80 22/1	174 50 22/2	131 05 42/2

15

Table 7. Species ranked by relative abundance in number of fish collected per hour for 1 994. Species were added to the list in descending order of abundance until 95% of the total catch for that reach was obtained. Percentages are in parentheses.

			Rankings	by Reach
				Starved
Species	Alton	La Grange	Peoria	Rock	Marseilles	Dresden
Clupeidae
gizzard shad	3(10.2)	5(8.3)	6 (4.9)	4 (9.6)	3(12,1)	2(12.9)
threadfin shad			7 (4.8)
Cyprinidae
bluntnose minnow				9(2.1)	2(21.8)	1 (39,3)
bullhead minnow				3(11.0)		8 (2.3)
common carp	6 (5.6)	2(18.6)	5(5.3)	6(5.5)	7(2.9)	6 (5.4)
common carp x goldfish						9 (2.0)
emerald shiner		12(1.3)	2(14.2)	1 (28.8)	1 (25.4)	5 (5.7)
golden shiner						10(1.4)
red shiner				10(1.4)	8(2,0)
sand shiner				6(5.5)	6(5,5)
silver chub			15(0.8)
spottail shiner						3 (8.9)
Catostomidae
bigmouth buffalo	9(1.6)	7 (4.8)	10(3.2)
golden redhorse					10(1,3)
river carpsucker			11(2.3)		10(1,3)
shorthead redhorse		11(1.5)	12(1,9)
smallmouth buffalo	7(3.0)	9(3.7)	8 (4.5)	2(12 3)	10(1.3)
Ictaluridae
channel catfish	2(13.3)	8(3.8)	14(1.3)	5 (6.2)	11 (0,6)
Percichthyidae
white bass	8(2.1)	6 (8.0)	9(4.0)	7 (4.8)	8(2,0)
Centrarchidae
black crappie	4 (7.6)	4(8.8)	13(1.6)			11 (1.0)
bluegill	1 (36.6)	1 (23.7)	1 (24.4)	7 (4,8)	4(7.8)	5(5.7)
green sunfish			3 (9.9)		10(1.3)	4(8.3)
largemouth bass	5(6.1)	10(3.4)	9 (4.0)		5 (6.2)
smallmouth bass				8(3,4)	8(2.0)	7 (2.9)
Sciaenidae
freshwater drum	3(10.2)	3(9.9)	4 (8.6)		9(1.6)
Numbers of fishes
accounting for 95%	10	12	16	12	16	12

16

Table 8 Number of individuals of each fish species collected per hour of electrofishing (CPUEn) at Reach 25 of the Mississippi

River (Bnckhouse Slough) and at six reaches of the Illinois River Waterway in 1995

Reach and Hours Fished

Alton La Grange Peoria 5 00 550 7 00

Starved Rock Marseilles Dresden 2 00 2 50 2 00

Overall

CPUEn

25 00

Lepisosteidae

gar

bowfin Clupeidae gizzard shad skipjack hemng

bullhead minnow central stoneroller common carp common carp x goldfish emerald shiner golden shiner goldfish grass carp

silver chub spottail shiner suckermouth minr Catostomidae bigmouth buffalo black buffalo

nver carpsucker

shorthead redhorse

smallmouth buffalo

quillback Ictalundae

black bullhead

channel catfish

flathead catfish

yellow bullhead Cypnnodontidae

blackstnpe topminow Poeciliidae

mosquitofish Athennidae

brook silverside Percichlhyidae

striped X white bass

Centrarchidae black crappie bluegill

bluegill X green sunfish green sunfish largemouth bass orangespotted sunlsh pumpkinseed redear sunfish rock bass smallmouth bass

white crappie Percidae log perch sauger walleye

3 40 6 60

11 09 0 36 0 18 0 18

109 2 18

9 00			5 86
	0 20	1 45	0 71
18 00	500	6 55	13 43 0 29 0 14
	10 20	3 09	2 00

0 20	0 18
0 20		0 29
3 00	20 91	8 29
5 20	9 64	529
*4 80	40 18	39 86
	018	100
0 60	0 55	9 29
7 60	4 73	1071
0 20		1 00
0.20		0 14

23 00	24 40	150 00	16 36
59 00	50 00	185 50	24 96
		300	0 24
1 00	7 60	600	9 76
		1 00	008
138 50	71 20	10 50	50 36
	0 80	3 50	2 00 0 72 0 04
3 50	3 60		0 68
20 50	42 40	7 00	7 00
43 00			344 020

0 50 0 50

0 80		2 20
0 80		064
1 20	0 50	7 76 012
	0 50	0 08
0 40	0 50	3 36
	0 50	0 56
0 40		0 12

	012
	7 72
0 50	5 04
83 00	42 72
0 50	0 36
46 00	7 16
1150	754
2100	2 20
0 50	0 12
	0 08
6 50	052
900	108
	0 32
	1 20
	0.04
	0.12
	0.04

Sciaenidae freshwater drum	36 00	8 20	15 09	2557		120		13 68
Total number per hour Number of species^ybrids	190 00 17/0	150 20 25/1	24109 28/1	291.00 32/2	867,50 19/0	356 80 24/0	600 00 23/1	325 24 48/3

17

Table 9. Species ranked by relative abundance in number offish collected per hour for 1995. Species were added to the list in descending order of abundance until 95% of the total catch for that reach was obtained. Percentages are in parentheses.

			Rankings by Reach
				Starved
Species	Alton	La Grange	Peoria	Rock	Marseilles	Dresden
Clupeidae
gizzard shad	2 (28.4)	1 (36.8)	1 (43.3)	2 (28.0)	1 (25.2)	4 (8.4)
Cyprinidae
bluntnose minnow				5 (2.7)	5 (6.8)	2 (25.0)
bullhead minnow				3 (6 8)	3(14.0)	1 (31.1)
common carp	10(2.3)	3(10.7	9 (2.4)		7(2.1)
emerald shiner	7 (4.4)	6 (4.6)	5 (4.2)	1 (50.5)	2 (20.0)	8(1.8)
golden shiner			11 (1.9)
red shiner				6 (2 4)	4(11.9)	10(1.2)
sand shiner				4 (5.0)
spottail shiner			12(1.8)
Catostomidae
bigmouth buffalo	6 (4.5)	10(1.8)	13(1.1)
river carpsucker			10(2.0)
smallmouth buffalo	9(3.3)	8 (2.7)	4 (4.6)
Ictaluridae
channel catfish	3 (6.8)	11(1.3)
Percichthyidae
white bass	11 (2.0)	4 (8.7)	8(2.8)
Centrarchidae
black crappie	8 (3.5)	7 (4.0)	12(1.8)
bluegill	1 (29.8)	2(16.7)	2(13.7)		4(11.9)	3(13.8)
green sunfish			7 (3.2)			5 (7.7)
largemouth bass	5(5.1)	9 (2.0)	6 (3.7)		6 (2.7)	7(1.9)
orangespotted sunfish						6 (3.5)
smallmouth bass						9(1.5)
Sciaenidae
freshwater drum	4 (5.5)	5(6.3)	3 (8.8)
Numbers of fishes
accounting for 95%	11	11	14	6	8	10

18

Table 1 0 Number of Individuals River (Bnckhouse Slough) and a

of each fish species collected per hour of electrofishing (CPUEn) at Reach 26 of the Mi

[ SIX reaches of the Illinois River Watenway in 1996

Reach and Hours Fished

Species

Reach 26 Alton La Grange 1 00 500 5 50

Peoria

7 00

Starved Rock Marseilles 2 00 2 25

Dresden 2 00

Overall

CPUEn

24 75

Lepisosteidae

shortnose gar Clupeidae

gizzard shad

skipjack hernng

threadfin shad Cypnnidae

bluntnose minnow

bullhead minnow

carp X goldfish

common carp

emerald shiner

fathead minnow

golden shiner

goldfish

grass carp

red shiner

silverband shiner

spottail shiner Catostomidae

bigmouth buffalo

golden redhorse

nver carpsucker

smallmouth buffalo

shorthead redhorse Ictalundae

black bullhead

channel catfish

flathead catf sh

yellow bullhead Cypnnodontidae

blackstnpe topminnow Athennidae

brook silverside Percichthyidae

white bass Centrarchidae

black crappie

bluegill

bluegill X green sunfish

green sunfish

largemouth bass

orangespotted sunfish

rock bass

smallmouth bass

warmouth

white crappie Percidae

log perch

mud darter

sauger

walleye Sciaenidae

25 80 0 40

0 18 126 00

0 18 36 36

0 55 5 82 0 73

150 75 0 88 3 63

6 50 8 75 0 13 0 63

0 50

013 013

1 25

0 13

1 13 013 0 13

6 18	4 13
16 73	23 75
	0 13
0 36	2 88
291	7 38
	0 75
	0 13
0 91	0 13
0 55	050
	013
	0 13
2 00	0 63
	0 25

10 00 3 00

0 50 7.00

53 08	39 50	98 99
		0 57
0 51	2 00	3 60
	1 00	0 08 0 04
0 51	1 00	0 12
5 13	6 00	1313
1 54	850	6 75 0 04
	0 50	0 28
	1 00	0 32 0 04
1 54		1 54 0 04
5 64	8 00	1 74

1 03 513 0 51

2 05

0 51

0 50 0 50

550 6 00 3 50 1 50

0 08 5 58 0 28 0 08

0.08

0.28

18.18

3 23 16 48

0 04

1 54 5 25 0 85 0 16 008 0.24 0.44

0.04 0.04

freshwater dnjm	12 00	4 40	33 09	13 25		1 54	0 50	1317
Total number per hour Number of species/hybnds	53 00 12/0	11560 23/0	31491 28/0	249 88 34/1	148 50 12/0	102 56 17/1	101 50 19/1	20452 41/2

19

Table 1 1 . Species ranked by relative abundance in number of fish collected per hour for 1 996. Species were added to the list in descending order of abundance until 95% of the total catch for that reach was obtained. Percentages are in parentheses.

			Rankings by Reach
				Starved
Species	Alton	La Grange	Peoria	Rock	Marseilles	Dresden
Clupeidae
gizzard shad	1 (22.3)	1 (40.0)	1 (60.3)	1 (73.4)	1 (61.5)	1 (38.9)
threadfin shad	5 (6.9)		10(1.5)			8 (2.0)
Cyprinidae
common carp	6(6,2)	3(11.5)	8(2.6)	5(2.0)	4(5.0)	5 (5.9)
emerald shiner		6(2.5)	4(3.5)	2 (7.7)	7(1.5)	3 (8.4)
red shiner				3 (6.7)	7(1.5)
spottail shiner				5(2.0)	3(5.5)	4 (7.9)
Catostomidae
bigmouth buffalo	10(2.2)	8(1.7)	11(1.4)		7(1.5)
smallmouth buffalo	8 (4.0)	7(1.8)	7 (2,8)	4(4,7)	4(5.0)
Ictaluridae
channel catfish	2(16.8)	9(1.5)
Percichthyidae
white bass	4(11.8)	2(17.8)	5 (3.4)
Centrarchidae
black crappie	10(2.2)	8(2.0)	9(1.7)
bluegill	3(13.3)	5(5.3)	2(9.5)		2(6 0)	2(14,3)
green sunfish						6 (5.4)
largemouth bass	7(5.0)		6(3.0)		5(4.5)	5(5.9)
orangespotted sunfish					6(2.0)	7(3.4)
rock bass						9(1.5)
Sciaenidae
freshwater drum	9(3.8)	4(10.5)	3(5.3)		7(1.5)
Number of fishes
accounting for 95%	11	10	11	6	11	10

20

Table 12 Numbers of individuals of each fish species River (Brickhouse Slough) and on six reaches of the III

collected per hour of electrofishing (CPUEn) on Reach 26 of the H/1ississippi inois River Waterway in 1997

Reach and Hours Fished

Species

Alton 5 00

Starved La Grange Peona Rock

Marseilles 2 25

Overall

CPUEfj

25 00

Amiidae

bowfin Clupeidae

gizzard shad

skipjack hernng

threadfin shad Cypnnidae

bluntnose minnow

bullhead minnow

central stoneroller 1 carp 1 carp X goldfish

emerald shiner

golden shiner

goldfish

grass carp

red shiner

silver chub

spottail shiner Catostomidae

bigmouth buffalo

golden redhorse

nver carpsucker

shorthead redhorse

smallmouth buffalo Ictalundae

channel catfish

flathead catfish

freckled madtom

tadpole madtom Percichthyidae

stnped bass x white bass

white bass Centrarchidae

black crappie

bluegill

bluegill x green sunfish

green sunfish

green x orangespotted sunfish

largemouth bass

longear sunfish

orangespotted sunfish

pumpkinseed

rock bass

smallmouth bass

white crappie Percidae

logperch

sauger Sciaenidae

14 00 7 00

2 00 20 00

27 20 46 36 0 60 1 82 0 20

3 00	4 55	6 90
3180	22 36	27 03 014
2 20	0 18	3 72 0 14
2 40	218	9 10
0 80	0 91	1 79 014
0 40		0 55
0 60	200	1 38 1 24
	0 36	0 14

0 50 0 50

15 40	23 09	15 14 041
31 20	1255	25 24	69 50
	0 36	041 0 55 041
2 20		1 38	29 00
	018	0 14
		1 38	2 00
9 20	5 64	12 55
	018	0 14
0 20	018	1 24
0 80	1,09	1 24	1 50
5 40	473	14 34	6 50
13 20	582	2 07	0 50
2 80	0 55 018	0 14

0 50 3 50 0 50 2 00

40 89 0 44 6 22

9 33 8 44 0 44 4 89

2 22 2 22

9 78 0 44 4 89

3 11

14 00	53 04
	0 64
	0 60
15 00	13 32
	1 72
3 00	0 32
5 50	14 60
	0 12
10 00	27 88
1 50	0 32
0 50	0 20
	0 12
	7.88
	0.12
	0.60

050 1 50

0 50 0 50

10 50 15 50

9 00 1 00 1 50

200

0 48 0 92 768

5 08 0.76

0.04 7.48

3 40 0 04

0 04 0 16 0 40

0.40 0.20

freshwater drum	65 00	11 80	15 27	21 38		1 78		14 68
Total number per hour Number of species/hybnds	178 00 15/0	155 60 22/0	155 27 23/1	262 48 30/3	207 50 14/1	208 44 22/1	244 00 20/1	207 80 38/4

21

Table 13. Species ranked by relative abundance in number offish collected per hour for 1997. Species were added to the list in descending order of abundance until 95% of the total catch for that reach was obtained. Percentages are in parentheses.

			Rankings by Reach
				Starved
Species	Alton	La Grange	Peoria	Rock	Marseilles	Dresden
Clupeidae
gizzard shad	3(16.3)	1 (28.1)	1 (37.1)	2 (23.6)	3(19.6)	4 (5.7)
threadfin shad					7 (3.0)
Cyphnidae
bluntnose minnow				3(19.8)	5 (4.5)	1 (47.1)
bullhead minnow			12(1.2)		6(4.1)
central stoneroller						9(1.2)
common carp	4 (9.2)	2(14.0)	5(6.1)		8(2.3)	8 (2.7)
emerald shiner	2(18.7)	6 (7.6)	3 (9.6)	1 (33.5)	1 (27.1)	6(4.1)
red shiner				4(14.0)	2 (24.9)
Catostomidae
bigmouth buffalo	7(5.5)	8 (3.4)	7(4.8)
smallmoufh buffalo	8 (3.2)	9 (2.9)	6(5.5)	5(3.1)
Ictaluridae
channel catfish	5 (7.9)	7 (3.5)	13(0.8)
flathead catfish	11(1.7)
Percichthyidae
white bass	9(3.0)	5(8.8)	8(3.9)
Centrarchidae
black crappie	10(1.8)	10(2.8)	10(2.6)
bluegill	1.(19.1)	3(13.5)	2(10.3)	6(1.7)	4 (4.7)	2(19.7)
bluegill X green sunfish						5 (4.3)
green sunfish			11(1.4)		8(2.3)	3 (6.4)
largemouth bass	12(1.4)	11 (1.3)	9(3.5)		9(1.5)	7 (3.7)
Sciaenidae
freshwater drum	6(7.1)	4 (9.2)	4(8.1)
Number of fishes
accounting for 95%	12	11	13	6	10	9

22

Table 14 Numbers of individuals of each fish species collected per hour of electrofishing (CPUEn) on Reach 26 of the Mississippi

River (Brickhouse Slough) and on six reaches of the Illinois River Wateway in 1 998

Reach and Hours Fished

Species

Clupeidae

gizzard shad

skipjack herring

threadfin shad Hiodontidae

goldeye Cypnnidae

bullhead minnow

bluntnose minnow

common carp

common carp x goldfish

emerald shiner

golden shiner

goldfish

grass carp

red shiner

sand shiner

silver chub

silverband shiner

spotfin shiner

spottail shiner Catostomidae

bigmouth buffalo

black buffalo

golden redhorse

quillback

river carpsucker

shorthead redhorse

smallmouth buffalo

Ictalundae

channel catfish

flathead catfish Cypnnodontidae

blackstripe topminnow Poeciliidae

mosquitofish Percichthyidae

yellow bass Centrarchidae

black crappie

bluegill

bluegill X green sunfish

bluegill X orangespotted sunfish

green sunfish

largemouth bass

orangespotted sunfish

pumpkinseed

smallmouth bass

warmouth

white crappie Percidae

mud darter

sauger

slenderhead darter Sciaenidae

La Grange Peona

5 50 8 00

Rock Marseilles

2 00 2 75

50 13	65 38	58 00
0 36	0 38	0 50
0 73	3 13

	125	7 50
018	0 63	2 50
24 36	913 0 25	1 50
0 91	150	109 50
0 36	0 38 013
0 18

	7 00	12 36
2 25	8 50	0 36
613
0 25
0 38	1 00 3 00	1 09
2 13		0 36
0 75

Overall CPUEn

0 57	1 23
14 29	1 96
4 00	10 62
	0 08
5 71	17 19

0.04 0.04 0.15

3 27 012 0 38 0 35 0 92

3 77 1 15

6 00	21 09 0 18	10 88	2 00	1 45		9.50 0 04
0 40	2 00	6 75	1 50	1 09		2 81
10 40	12 73	26 75	2 00	109	14 29	14 73
0 20		1 63		1 09	5 71 0 57	0 92 015
0 40	0 55	12 25	2 50	2 55	31 43	6 54
1 40	3 27	8 75	2 50	3 27	2 86	4 42
0 20		313		0 36	1 14	1 81 0 04
		0 38	0 50		1 71	0 27
	018	0 25				0 12

freshwater dnjm	15 00	7 20	22 91	16 63	0 50	0 73	1 14	1212
Total number per hour Number of species/hybnds	111 00 13/0	92 60 24/1	160 91 29/0	198 63 33/2	228 50 19/3	105 82 18/1	117 14	153 88 44/3

23

Table 15. Species ranked by relative abundance in number offish collected per hour for 1998. Species were added to the list in descending order of abundance until 95% of the total catch for that reach was obtained. Percentages are in parentheses.

			Rankings	by Reach
				Starved
Species	Alton	La Grange	Peoria	Rock	Marseilles	Dresden
Clupeidae
gizzard shad	1 (25.1)	1 (31.2)	1 (32.9)	2 (25.4)	2(19.2)	2(18.0)
threadfin shad	10(2.2)		11(1.6)
Cyprinidae
bullhead minnow				5(3.3)	9(1.7)
bluntnose minnow				8(1.1)	5(4.8)	3(12.2)
common carp	4 (9.5)	2(15.1)	7 (4.6)		6(3.8)	8 (3.4)
emerald shiner	2 (16.4)			1 (47.9)	1 (40.5)	5 (4.9)
spotfin shiner				6(3.1)	3(11.7)
spottail shiner			14(1.1)	4(3.7)
Catostomidae
bigmouth buffalo	8 (3.9)	8 (2.0)	10(3.1)
quillback				7(1.3)
river carpsucker			15(1.1)
smallmouth buffalo		6(3.8)	5(5.7)	3 (7.4)	4(5.2)	7(3.9)
Ictaluridae
channel catfish	5(8.9)	7 (2.8)	13(1.2)			9 (2.4)
flathead catfish	9 (2.4)	12(1.1)
Cyprinodontidae
blackstripe topminnow						9 (2.4)
Percichthyidae
white bass	7 (6.5)	4(13.1)	6(5.5)		10(1.4)
Centrarchidae
black crappie		10(1.2)	9(3.4)
bluegill	3(11.2)	5(7.9)	2(13.5)			3(12.2)
bluegill x green sunfish			16(0.8)			5 (4.9)
green sunfish			4 (6.2)	8(1.1)	8 (2.4)	1 (26.8)
largemouth bass	11(1.5)	8 (2.0)	8 (4.4)	8(1.1)	7(3.1)	9 (2.4)
orangespotted sunfish			11(1.6)
smallmouth bass						12(1.5)
Percidae
sauger		10(1.2)
Sciaenidae
freshwater drum	6 (7.8)	3(14.2)	3 (8.4)
Number of fishes
accounting for 95%	11	12	16	10	10	12

24

Mississippi River. Of these fishes, 25, 278 individuals were collected from the Illinois WatenA/ay sites, and 643 were collected from Brickhouse Slough of the Mississippi River. These results are similar to the first five years of F-101-R (1989-1993), when 60 species of fishes were collected representing 12 families (Lerczak et al. 1995; 25). The year with the greatest overall catch of fishes was 1 995 (7941 individuals, CPUEn 325) (Table 8) and the year with the fewest overall catch of fishes was 1994 (3421 individuals, CPUEn 131) (Table 6).

For all stations combined, the greatest number of species were collected in 1995 (48 species plus 3 hybrids) and the least were in 1997 (38 species plus 4 hybrids) (Tables 8 and 12, respectively). The number of species collected from upper waterway reaches ranged from 12 for Starved Rock in 1996 (Table 10) to 24 for Marseilles in 1995 (Table 8). The number of species collected from middle river reaches ranged from 23 for La Grange Reach in 1997 (Table 12) to 34 for Peoria Reach in 1996 (Table 10). The number of species collected from the lower river (Alton Reach) ranged from 18 in 1994 (Table 6) to 25 (Table 8) in 1995. The Peoria Reach consistantly had highest species richness during all years (1994-1998) of sampling.

Rankings by Relative Abundance. Rankings by relative abundance in number of fish collected per hour highlight the consistent dominance by gizzard shad during all years except 1994, when small cyprinids (emerald shiner and bluntnose minnow) and bluegill were most numerous (Tables 7,9,11,13, and 1 5). Gizzard

25

shad ranked first in numerical abundance in La Grange, Peoria, and Marseilles reaches in 1995, all reaches in 1996, La Grange and Peoria reaches in 1997, and Alton, La Grange and Peoria reaches in 1998 (Tables 9, 11, 13, and 15). Other numerically important species have included bluntnose minnow, bullhead minnow, emerald shiner, bluegill, and green sunfish. Bluntnose minnow ranked first in numerical abundance in Dresden Reach in 1994 and 1997 (Tables 7 and 13). Bullhead minnow ranked first in numerical abundance in Dresden Reach in 1995 (Table 9). Emerald shiner ranked first in numerical abundance in Starved Rock and Marseilles reaches during all years of this project except 1996 (Tables 7, 9, 13, and 15). Bluegill ranked first in numerical abundance in Alton, La Grange, and Peoria reaches in 1994 and in Alton Reach in 1995 and 1997 (Tables 7, 9, and 13). Green sunfish ranked first in numerical abundance in Dresden Reach in 1998 (Table 15).

CPUEm of Five Most Numerically Abundant Species. Catch rates in numbers of individuals collected per hour by electrofishing for the top five most numerically abundant species are shown in Figures 2 through 6 for the lower, middle, and upper Illinois watenA/ay reaches. For gizzard shad, a similar trend was noticed in all three river sections (Figure 2). Lowest gizzard shad CPUEn occurred in 1994 in all sections, and was highest in 1995 (lower and upper river) and 1996 (middle river), prior to a decline in CPUEn in 1996, 1997, and 1998. Overall, catches of gizzard shad have been much higher in the middle and upper river than in the lower river. Catches of common carp have been highest (CPUEn 15-20) in the middle Illinois

26

gizzard shad

1998

lower river middle river upper river

Figure 2. Catch per hour of gizzard shad from 1 994 through 1 998 in the lower (Alton Reach), middle (La Grange and Peoria reaches), and upper (Starved Rock, Marseilles, and Dresden reaches) Illinois River watenway.

27

common carp

1998

lower river middle river upper river

Figure 3. Catch per hour of common carp from 1994 through 1998 in the lower (Alton Reach), middle (La Grange and Peoria reaches), and upper (Starved Rock, Marseilles, and Dresden reaches) Illinois River waterway.

28

emerald shiner

200

1998

lower river middle river upper river

Figure 4. Catch per hour of emerald shiner from 1 994 through 1 998 in the lower (Alton Reach), middle (La Grange and Peoria reaches), and upper (Starved Rock, Marseilles, and Dresden reaches) Illinois River waterway.

29

bluegill

1998

lower river middle river upper river

Figure 5. Catch per hour of bluegill from 1994 through 1998 in the lower (Alton Reach), middle (La Grange and Peoria reaches), and upper (Starved Rock, Marseilles, and Dresden reaches) Illinois River watenway.

30

freshwater drum

1998

lower river middle river upper river

Figure 6. Catch per hour of freshwater drum from 1 994 through 1 998 in the lower (Alton Reach), middle (La Grange and Peoria reaches), and upper (Starved Rock, Marseilles, and Dresden reaches) Illinois River waten/vay.

31

River reaches (Figure 3). Far fewer common carp have been taken in the upper river, where CPUEn has been consistantly low during the five years of this project; only 5 common carp per hour or less have been collected from 1994 through 1998. Catches of emerald shiner have typically been less than CPUEn 50 except in the upper river reaches in 1995, when average CPUEn was 165 (Figure 4). Catches of bluegill in all three river sections have shown similar trends over the five years of this study (Figure 5). Bluegill CPUE^ was highest in 1995 (CPUE^ 40-46) and has exhibited an annual cyclical pattern in population size. This pattern appears to be consistant throughout the entire waterway. Catches of freshwater drum have been highest in the middle river reaches (CPUE^ 12-23) (Figure 6). Collections in the lower river have ranged from CPUEn 5-12, and in the upper river have been extremely low by comparison, with CPUE^ <1 during all years of this project.

D. Catch Rates in Weights (pounds) Collected per Hour by Reach.

Catch rates in pounds offish collected per hour (CPUEw) were also examined to provide an estimation offish biomass and production of each Illinois River reach. Overall, CPUEw ranged from 48 pounds per hour in 1995 to 74 pounds per hour in 1997 (Tables 16-25). La Grange Reach has consistantly provided the highest catches in weight (CPUEw 81-108) except in 1997, when average hourly collections from Peoria Reach were 114 pounds (Table 22). Lowest catches in weight each year have typically come from Starved Rock (CPUEw 1 1-32) and Marseilles (CPUE^

32

Table 16 Pounds of each fish Waterway In 1994 Pounds pei

species collected per hour of electrofishing (CPUEv\ hour less than 0 01 are indicated by 0.(

; reaches of the Illinois River

Reach and Hours Fished
				Starved			Overall
	Alton	La Grange	Peona	Rock	Marseilles	Dresden	CPUE
Species	5,00	850	695	2.00	2.50	2,00	2695
Lepisosteidae
shortnose gar		0 04					0.01
Amiidae
bowfin	0.44						0.08
Clupeidae
gizzard shad	099	1 49	0 74	1,85	1,75	1,98	1 29
shipiack herring			024		0.02		0.06
threadfin shad	0,01		002				0.01
Hiodontidae
goldeye		0.05	Oil				0 04
Cypnnidae
bluntnose minnow				000	0 06	021	002
bullhead minnow		0.00	0 00	002	0 00	002	0 00
carp X goldfish					0 86	438	0 40
common carp	21 91	47.95	12 30	9 14	5 46	2097	2510
emerald shiner	0.00	000	003	0.07	010	007	003
golden shiner					0 00	005	000
goldfish		0,12	015				008
minnow (unid )			0 00		0 00	0,00	000
red shiner		0 00		0.00	000		000
sand shiner				001	001		0.00
silverchub			002				0.01
spottail shiner			000		001	0 10	001
Catostomidae
bigmouth buffalo	4.37	18 50	12,36				9.83
golden redhorse		0,00	0,35	022	0,61	0,52	020
highfin carpsucker				037			0.03
northern hog sucker					0,02		000
quillback			0 17				004
river carpsucker		016	4 14	038	1 37	0,85	1 34
shorthead redhorse		064	1 27			0 03	053
smallmouth buffalo	1 05	3 18	5 15	12 11	326		3 73
Ictalundae
channel catfish	18.59	7 11	248	4 51	1,27		6 78
flathead catfish	056	1,44	0,44			4,35	099
yellow bullhead	0.17						003
Atherinidae
brook silverside						0,00	000
Percichthyidae
white bass	041	1,56	1 23	0 47	0 46		0.96
Centrarchidae
black crappie	240	367	0 30			0,38	1.71
bluegill	270	1 90	2,20	003	054	0,77	178
bluegill X green sunfish			0 19			000	005
green sunfish	0 04	0,04	1,23	006	017	0,36	038
largemouth bass	6 43	553	302	021	4 20	0,21	4 14
orangespotted sunfish		0,00	001	000		001	0 00
pumpkinseed						0,06	000
rock bass						0 18	0 01
smallmouth bass		0 00	0,02	007	0,11	0,80	008
warmouth	005	0,01					0.01
white crappie		0,33	0 12				0.14
Percidae
sauger	0.03	0,14	012				0.08
slenderhead darter					0,00		000
Sciaenidae
freshwater drum	228	1 29	2 15		066	0.88	1.51
Total pounds per hour	62.42	95 17	5056	2950	2095	37 24	61.52

33

Table 17. Species ranked by relative abundance in pounds offish collected per hour for 1994. Species were added to the list in descending order of abundance until 95% of the total catch for that reach was obtained. Percentages are in parentheses.

			Rankings by Reach
				Starved
Species	Alton	La Grange	Peoria	Rock	Marseilles	Dresden
Clupeidae
gizzard shad		9(1.6)	11(1.4)	4 (6.3)	4 (8.4)	4 (5.3)
Cyprinidae
carp X goldfish					7(4.1)	2(11.8)
common carp	1 (35.1)	1 (50.4)	2 (24.3)	2(31.0)	1 (26.1)	1 (56.3)
Catostomidae
bigmouth buffalo	4(7.0)	2(19.4)	1 (24.4)
golden redhorse					9 (2.9)	9(1.4)
river carpsucker			4(8.2)		4 (6.5)	6 (2.3)
shorthead redhorse			9 (2.5)
smallmouth buffalo	8(1.7)	6(3.3)	3(10.2)	1 (41.1)	3(15.6)
Ictaluridae
channel catfish	2 (29.8)	3(7.5)	6 (4.9)	3(15.3)	6(6.1)
flathead catfish						3(11.7)
Percichthyidae
white bass		8(1.7)	10(2 4)	5(1.6)
Centrarchidae
black crappie	6(3,8)	5(3.9)
bluegill	5 (4.3)	7 (2.0)	7 (4.4)		10(2.6)	8(2.1)
green sunfish			10(2.4)
largemouth bass	3(10.3)	4 (5.8)	5 (6.0)		2(20.0)
smallmouth bass						7(2.1)
Sciaenidae
freshwater drum	7(3.7)		8(4.3)		8(3.2)	5 (2.4)
Numbers of fishes
accounting for 95%	8	9	12	5	10	9

34

Table 18 Pounds of each fish species collected per fiour of electrofishing (CPUEw Waterway in 1 995 Pounds per fiour less man 0 01 are indicated by 0 00

( reacfies of tfie lllin

Reacti and Hours Fistied Starved Ailon La Grange Peona Rock

5 00 5 50 7 00 2 00

Lepisosteidae

Clupeidae gizzard shad skipjack hemng

0.16

2 42

carp X goldfish

golden shiner goldfish grass carp

red shiner

sand shiner

silverchub

spottail shiner

suckermouth minnow Calostomidae

bigmouth buffalo

black buffalo

golden redhorse

nver carpsucker

shorthead redhorse

smallmouth buffalo

quillback Ictalundae

black bullhead

channel catfish

flathead catfish

yellow bullhead Cyphnodontidae

blackstnpe topminov. Poealiidae

mosquitofish Athennidae

brook silverside Percichthyidae

6 63	47 84	734	1 79
001	0 02	0 03	1 39
	0 00	003
	001	013
	1 24
	000		0 00
0 00	0 00	0 01	0 02 004

1827 1129

)53 147

0 10	0 36	004
0 09	044	0 05
	1 12	0 09
	0 02	000
7 47	11 51	16 37
0 16	0 02	015
000	0 02	0 01 0 04 0 28
0 00		0 00
Oil	0 02	0 02 0 00 000
0 02		0 01
001		0 00 8 62 0 14
0 05	0 06	0 02
0 60		0,69
050		0 16
1 47	0 55	3 29

Centrarchidae black crappie bluegill

bluegill X green sunfish green sunfish largemouth bass orangespotted sunfish pumpkinseed redear sunfish

logperch sauger walleye Sdaenidae

0 16 0 01 0 32

freshwater drum	0 86	0 88	1 70		Oil		0 89
Total pounds per hour	51 05	83 01	39 49	1934	18 79	34 65	47 61

35

Table 19. Species ranked by relative abundance in pounds offish collected per hour for 1995. Species were added to the list in descending order of abundance until 95% of the total catch for that reach was obtained. Percentages are in parentheses.

			Rankings by Reach
				Starved
Species	Alton	La Grange	Peoria	Rock	Marseilles	Dresden
Clupeidae
gizzard shad	9(2.1)	10(1.8)	6(7.1)	2 (27.4)	2(17.9)	4(8.9)
Cyprinidae
carp X goldfish						8(3.2)
common carp	3(13.0)	1 (57.6)	2 (18.6)	3(9.3)	1 (39.8)	1 (33.2)
emerald shiner				4(7 2)	9(0.9)
Catostomidae
bigmouth buffalo	1 (35.8)	2(13.6)	1 (19.32)
river carpsucker			8(5.0)	5(3.2)	7(3.2)
shorthead redhorse					8(2.7)
smallmouth buffalo	5 (4.3)	5(3,5)	3(11.1)	1 (43 5)	4(7.8)	10(1,6)
quillback				6(2 3)
Ictaluridae
channel catfish	2(17.4)	8(2.3)	10(4.1)		5 (4.8)
flathead catfish		9(1.8)				2(17.8)
Percichthyidae
white bass	7(3.3)	4(3.8)	7(7.0)	7(1.3)
Centrarchidae
black crappie	8(2.6)	6(3.1)	11(2.8)
bluegill	6(3.6)	7(2.5)	5(7.2)		6 (4.7)	9(3.1)
green sunfish			12(2.2)			7(3.9)
largemouth bass	4(12.2)	3(5.8)	4(7.6)		3(13.6)	3(15.0)
rock bass						5 (4.8)
smallmouth bass						6 (4.7)
white crappie				8(1.2)
Sciaenidae
freshwater drum	10(1.7)		9 (4.3)
Numbers of fishes
accounting for 95%	10	10	12	8	9	10

36

Table 20 Pounds of each fish Waterway In 1996 Pounds pei

species collected per hour of electrofishing (CPUEw) at hour less than 0 01 are indicated by 0.00

< reaches of the Illinois River

Reach and Hours Fished

Species

Alton 5 00

Starved

La Grange Peoria Rock Marseilles 5,50 7.00 200 225

Overall

Dresden CPUE

2 00 24 75

Lepisosteidae

shortnose gar Clupeidae

gizzard shad

skipjack herring

threadfin shad Cyprinidae

bluntnose minnow

bullhead minnow

carp X goldfish

common carp

emerald shiner

fathead minnow

golden shiner

goldfish

grass carp

red shiner

silverband shiner

spottail shiner Catostomidae

bigmouth buffalo

golden redhorse

nver carpsucker

shorthead redhorse

smallmouth buffalo Ictalutidae

black bullhead

channel catfish

fathead catfish

yellow bullhead Cypnnodontidae

blackstripe topminnow Athennidae

brook silverside Percichthyidae

white bass Centrarchidae

black crappie

bluegill

bluegill X green sunfish

green sunfish

largemouth bass

orangespotted sunfish

rock bass

smallmouth bass

warmouth

white crappie Percidae

logperch

mud darter

sauger

walleye Sciaenidae

0.54	248	377
009	0.17	0.05
0.02	0.04	0.03

1571	71 15	1405	4 93
001	0.03	004 000	0.04
	0.01	0-02
	002	009
1.30
	0.02	0.00 000 001
661	15.86	11.29 0.05
009	0 10	1.25	0.72
065	056	025
3.38	2.21	5.81	8.97
	0.00	0.08
1906	5 32	1.57	0.54
0 65	014 0.00 0.00	0.06 0.00
2 09	294	3 88
1 10	1.39	0.72
0.79	058	1.17 0.02	005
0 01	0.01	0.48
5.75	1.92	3.75	1 01
000		0.09
		003	0.53
	0.09	0.02
0 03	001	0.16 000 0.00
0 01	0.14	003 001

1 54	273	232 0 07
	001	0 02
	001	000 000
070	1 79	021
865	14 74	2534
0.00	005	0 03 000
	0.01	001
	0.34	0 06 0 26
0 01		001 000
0.01	002	0 00
262	0.48	833 0 01
008		046
0 38	0.17	0.37
419	0.07	3.93 002
1.25	1.00	571 018
	0 14	0.01

		0 73
044	0,96	074 0.01
	0 30	016
297	2 11	3.17
007	0 10	004
0 16	0.51	006 0 05 0,03
025		008 0.00 0.00 0.04 000

freshwater drum	0,83	262	1.67		1.26	0.85	1.40
Total pounds per hour	5874	10800	5046	1967	24 57	2639	56.09

37

Table 2 1 . Species ranked by relative abundance in pounds of fish collected per hour for 1 996. Species were added to the list in descending order of abundance until 95% of the total catch for that reach was obtained. Percentages are in parentheses.

			Rankings	by Reach
				Stan/ed
Species	Alton	La Grange	Peoria	Rock	Marseilles	Dresden
Clupeidae
gizzard shad		6(2.3)	5 (7.5)	3(14,6)	5(6,3)	2(10.4)
Cyprinidae
carp X goldfish					7 (2,8)	4 (6.8)
common carp	2 (26.7)	1 (65.9)	1 (27.9)	2(25.1)	1 (35,2)	1 (55.9)
grass carp	7 (2.2)
Catostomidae
bigmouth buffalo	3(11.3)	2(14.7)	2 (22.4)		4(10,7)	9(1.8)
river carpsucker			9(2.5)	5 (3.7)
smallmouth buffalo	5 (5.8)		3(11.5)	1 (45.6)	2(17.0)
ictaluridae
channel catfish	1 (32.5)	3 (4.9)	8(3.1)		6(5.1)	5(3.8)
Percichthyidae
white bass	6 (3.6)	5(2.7)	4 (7.7)
Centrarchidae
black crappie	8(1.9)
bluegill		4(3.7)	10(2,3)			6 (3.7)
largemouth bass	4(9.8)		6 (7.4)	4(5.1)	3(12.1)	3 (8.0)
rock bass						8(1.9)
Sciaenidae
freshwater drum	9(1.4)		7(3.3)		6(5,1)	7(3.2)
Number of fishes
accounting for 95%	9	6	10	5	8	9

38

Table 22 Pounds of each fish species collected per hour of electrofishing (CPUEw) at six reaches of the Illinois River Waterway in 1997, Pounds per hour less than 0.01 are indicated by 0 00.

Reach and Hours Fished
				Starved			Overall
	Alton	La Grange	Peoria	Rock	Marseilles	Dresden	CPUE
Species	5 00	5 50	7.25	200	225	200	2500
Amiidae							0.00
bowfin	0.77						015
Clupeidae							0,00
gizzard shad	0.56	1.21	2.03	1 32	0 90	1 06	1 24
skipjack herring	0.19	0.10	0.05		0 05		0 08
threadfin shad	0,00				0 03		0 00
Cyprinidae							0 00
bluntnose minnow				0 05	0 02	0 33	0 03
bullhead minnow			0.01	001	0 01		0 00
central stoneroller				001	000	0 02	000
common carp	2969	41 83	27.13		9 94	13 82	25 01
common carp x goldfish			0.20				006
emerald shiner	0 07	0.03	0.09	017	0 20	0 04	008
golden shiner		000	000			003	0 00
goldfish			0.01			0 47	004
grass carp			3.19				0 93
red shiner	0.01		0.00	0 04	012		002
silver chub		0 00	0.00				0,00
spottail shiner			0.01	001	0 00		0,00
Catostomidae							0.00
bigmouth buffalo	3089	1820	4049				21.93
golden redhorse		0.09	004		018	0,25	0.07
river carpsucker	000	0.06	1.34		0 49		0.45
shorthead redhorse	0 01	0.16	0.88	005		007	030
smallmouth buffalo	4.52	3.75	13.29	7.69	2 09	2 96	662
Ictaluridae							0.00
channel catfish	12.39	5.41	2.94	0.91	3 10	1 73	5.01
flathead catfish	3.08	0.14	0.30			1 90	0.89
freckled madtom		0.00					0.00
tadpole madtom					0 00		0.00
Percichthyidae							0,00
striped bass x white bass		0.61					013
white bass	2 91	399	816				3 83
Centrarchidae							000
black crappie	1.59	1 37	1.94	017	0.07	096	1 28
bluegill	0.27	1 40	1.85	0.02	0 50	1 61	1 07
bluegill x green sunfish			0.01	0.01	001	029	0 03
green sunfish	0 01	002	0.28	0.01	013	070	016
green x orangespotted sunfish			002				000
largemouth bass	2 64	1.22	6.10	0.63	1.00	294	2,94
longear sunfish						0.05	000
orangespotted sunfish	000	0.01	0.09			0 01	0 03
pumpkinseed			0.00				000
rock bass						040	003
smallmouth bass	0.08		0.07		0 46	025	010
white crappie	0.57	0.46	023		0.31		0 31
Percidae							000
logperch			0.00				0,00
sauger		0 04	001				001
Sciaenidae							000
freshwater drum	1.38	1 12	3.40		076		1,58
Total pounds per hour	91 65	81 24	114 17	11 06	20 37	29.84	74,42

39

Table 23. Species ranked by relative abundance in pounds of fish collected per hour for 1 997. Species were added to the list in descending order of abundance until 95% of the total catch

			Rankings	by Reach
				Stan/ed
Species	Alton	La Grange	Peoria	Rock	Marseilles	Dresden
Clupeidae
gizzard shad		8(1.5)	9(1.8)	2(11.9)	5(4.4)	6(3.5)
Cyprinidae
connmon carp	2 (32.4)	1 (51.5)	2 (23.8)		1 (48.8)	1 (46.3)
goldfish						9(1.6)
grass carp			7 (2.8)
Catostomidae
bigmouth buffalo	1 (33.7)	2 (22.4)	1 (35.5)
river carpsucker					7 (2.4)
smallmouth buffalo	4 (4.9)	5 (4.6)	3(11.6)	1 (69.5)	3(10.3)	2 (9.9)
Ictaluridae
channel catfish	3(13 5)	3 (6.7)	8(2.6)	3(8.2)	2(15.2)	4(5.8)
flathead catfish	5 (3.6)					3 (6.4)
Percichthyidae
white bass	6(3.2)	4 (4.9)	4(7.1)
Centrarchidae
black crappie	8(1.7)	7(1.7)	10(1.7)			7(3.2)
bluegill		6(1.7)			7 (2.4)	5 (5.4)
green sunfish						8(2.3)
largemouth bass	7(2.9)	8(1.5)	5(5.4)	4 (5.7)	4 (4.9)	2(9.9)
smallmouth bass					8 (2.2)
Sciaenidae
freshwater drum			6(3.0)		6(3.7)
Number of fishes
accounting for 95%	8	9	10	4	9	10

40

Table 24, Pounds of each fish species collected Waterway in 1998 Pounds per hour less than 0

per hour of eleclrofishing (CPUEw) ■ 01 are indicated by 0 00

; reaches of the Illinois River

Reach and Hours Fished
				Starved			Overall
	Alton	La Grange	Peona	Rock	Marseilles	Dresden	CPUEw
Species	5 00	5 50	8 00	2 00	2 75	1 75	26 00
Clupeidae
gizzard shad	0 31	1 27	2 51	1 68	2 20	2 16	161
skipjack hernng		001	001	005			0 01
threadfin shad	0 02	001	0 02				0.01
Hiodontidae
goldeye		0 13					0.03
Cypnnidae
bullhead minnow	0 00		0 00	001	0 00	0 00	0 00
bluntnose minnow		0 00	0 00	001	0 02	0 02	0 00
common carp	21 95	50 25	18 28	2 29	13 10	11 11	2273
common carp x goldfish			0 33				0 10
emerald shiner	0 02	0 00	001	0 35	0 17	0 02	0 05
golden shiner						0 05	0 00
goldfsh		0 05	0 06				0.03
grass carp	0 29		1 80				0.61
red shiner	000	0 00					0.00
sand shiner			0 00				0.00
silver chub			0 00				0.00
silverband shiner	0 00	0 00					0.00
spotfin shiner	0 00			0 02	0 05		0 01
spottail shiner			0 01	0 03	0 00		0 01
Catostomidae
bigmouth buffalo	1024	12,75	17 97				10 19
black buffalo		0 13	0 35				0 14
golden redhorse			0 20	0 36	0 71	0 48	0 20
quillback		0 28		2 32		0 29	0 26
nver carpsucker	0 41	0 47	2 13		0 40		0 88
shorthead redhorse		0 34	0 40				0 20
smallmouth buffalo	0 93	4 69	11 15	19 90	6 76	7 57	7 36
white sucker		001					0 00
Ictalundae
channel catfish	8 87	5 26	2 80	210	0 29	4 94	4 21
flathead catfish	1 47	280	4 80				235
Cypnnodontidae
blackstnpe topminnow	000					0 01	000
Poeciliidae
mosquitofish			0 00				0.00
Percichthyidae
white bass	2 42	3 70	4 1 1	0 64	0 22		258
yellow bass		001					000
Centrarchidae
black crappie	001	0 42	2 14	0 69	0 28		0 83
bluegill	0 14	0 51	1 49	0 08	0 10	0 59	0 65
bluegill X green sunf sh	0 00		0 14			0 46	0 08
bluegill X orangespotted sunfish					0 01	0 01	0 00
green sunfish	0 00	0 00	0 55	0 06	0 11	1 40	0 28
largemouth bass	0 46	1 49	4 94	1 62	1 33	0 39	2 22
orangespotted sunfish	0 00		0 04			0 02	001
pumpKinseed					0 02		0 00
smallmouth bass			000	001		0 03	0,00
warmouth		0 03	001				001
white crappie		003	0 35				0 11
Percidae
mud darter	0 00						0,00
sauger	0 02	0 15	006				0,05
slenderhead darter			0 00				0 00
Sciaenidae
freshwater drum	0 75	3 71	2 84	015	0 11	2 47	1 99
Total pounds per hour	48 31	88 52	79 48	32 32	25 88	32 03	59 85

41

Table 25. Species ranked by relative abundance in pounds offish collected per hour for 1998. Species were added to the list in descending order of abundance until 95% of the total catch for that reach was obtained. Percentages are in parentheses.

			Rankings	by Reach
				Starved
Species	Alton	La Grange	Peoria	Rock	Marseilles	Dresden
Clupeidae
gizzard shad			9(3.2)	5(5.2)	3(8.5)	5 (6.7)
Cyprinidae
common carp	1 (45.4)	1 (56.8)	1 (23.0)	3(7.1)	1 (50.6)	1 (34.7)
grass carp			12(2.3)
Catostomidae
bigmouth buffalo	2(21.2)	2(14.4)	2 (22.6)
golden redhorse					5(2.7)	8(1.5)
quillback				2(7.2)
river carpsucker			11(2.7)		6(1.5)
smallmouth buffalo	6(1.9)	4 (5.3)	3(14 0)	1 (61.6)	2(26.1)	2 (23.6)
Ictaluridae
channel catfish	3(18.4)	3(5.9)	8(3.5)	4 (6.5)	7(1.1)	3(15.4)
flathead catfish	5 (3.0)	7(3.2)	5(6.0)
Percichthyidae
white bass	4(5.0)	6 (4.2)	6(5.2)
Centrarchidae
black crappie			10(2.7)	7(2.1)
bluegill						7(1.9)
green sunfish						6 (4.4)
largemouth bass		8(1.7)	4 (6.2)	6(5.0)	4(5.1)
Sciaenidae
freshwater drum		5 (4.2)	7(3.6)			4 (7.7)
Number of fishes
accounting for 95%	6	8	12	7	7	8

42

19-26) reaches of the upper river.

In the following data summary, discussion is restricted to species that each separately accounted for over 10% of the total catch and to species that were of special significance. A 95% list was produced for each reach, in which species were ranked by relative abundance (pounds per hour) and added to the list until 95% of the total catch rate for that reach was obtained. Overall, these data indicate that in terms of weight the fish communities of the Illinois River continue to be dominated by common carp, bigmouth buffalo, and channel catfish in the lower and middle river, and common carp, smallmouth buffalo, gizzard shad, channel catfish, and largemouth bass in the upper watenway. Common carp ranked first by relative abundance in pounds offish collected per hour in Alton, La Grange, Marseilles, and Dresden reaches in 1994; La Grange, Marseilles, and Dresden reaches in 1995; La Grange, Peoria, Marseilles, and Dresden reaches in 1996; La Grange, Marseilles, and Dresden reaches in 1997; and Alton, La Grange, Peoria, Marseilles, and Dresden reaches in 1998 (Tables 17, 19, 21, 23, and 15). Bigmouth buffalo ranked first by relative abundance in pounds offish collected per hour in Peoria Reach in 1994 and in Alton and Peoria reaches in 1995 and in 1997 (Tables 17, 19, and 23). Channel catfish ranked first by relative abundance in pounds offish collected per hour in Alton Reach in 1996 (Table 21). Smallmouth buffalo ranked first by relative abundance in pounds offish collected per hour in Starved Rock Reach during all five years of this project (1994-1998).

43

E. Details of 1998 Sampling

In 1998 we collected a total of 4,001 fish representing 44 species (plus three hybrids) from eleven families during 26.00 h of sampling at 26 sites on the Illinois Waterway and a single site on the Mississippi River (Appendices B-E). Gizzard shad was the most abundantly collected species, representing 29.0% of the total catch, followed by emerald shiner (1 1.2%), bluegill (9.6%), freshwater drum (7.9%), common carp (6.9%), and white bass (6.2%). Gizzard shad were collected at all 27 sites and common carp and bluegill were collected at 26 sites. The sample from Lambie's Boat Harbor (RM170.3, Peoria Reach) yielded the most fish (389, 9.7% of the total collected from all 27 sites). The most species collected at a single site was 23 from Chillicothe (RM 180.6) in Peoria Reach. The fewest species collected at a single site was seven from Johnson Island (RM 249.6) in Marseilles Reach.

CONCLUSIONS

Our electrofishing collections on the Illinois River Waterway during August and September 1994-1998 documented the continuing recovery of the system's biological integrity. Once dominated by introduced and relatively pollution tolerant species such as common carp and goldfish (Lerczak and Sparks 1994), the Illinois River now supports a diverse assemblage of fishes, many of which support economically important sport fisheries. Ninety-four species and six hybrids have been collected since William Starrett began this survey in 1957. Seventy species

44

and four hybrids have been documented by project F-101-R sampling (1989- present); 44 species and three hybrids from eleven families were collected during 26.00 h of sampling in 1998. One species, the freckled madtom (a single specimen), was collected for the first time during project F-101-R sampling along the waterway; it was taken at Sugar Creek Island on La Grange Reach (middle river) in 1997. Also not collected previously was a green sunfish x orangespotted sunfish hybrid, found at the Lower Twin Sister site (RM 202.8) in 1997. We continue to document the relatively low abundance of common carp in Starved Rock Reach; this species has ranked extremely low in terms of catch rate in numbers in Marseilles and Dresden Reaches for several years. Goldfish, which were abundant in our samples in 1989 (82 individuals were collected) occurred only infrequently at sites in 1997 and 1998 (5 individuals were collected each year). Small minnow species, such as bluntnose minnow, bullhead minnow, emerald shiner, and red shiner, were extremely low in abundance in the upper watenway in 1996. However, sampling in 1997 and 1998 indicates these species are once again numerous in these reaches.

We noticed a high degree of variability in species richness among sites and also among river reaches. Some of this variability can be explained by sampling duration (site comparisons) or the number of sites sampled (reach comparisons), but there is also evidence some of our sites are inherently lower in species richness than others. For example, at most sites we have collected an average of 14-16 species during the ten years of project F-101-R sampling. However, at Hennipin (RM 207.6),

45

Pekin (RM 155.1), and Turkey Island (RM 148.0) the average has been 11 species (Appendix F). It also should be noted from Appendix F that low numbers of species typically occurred at sites following the drought years of the late 1980s (1989 and 1990), while high species richness at sites typically occurred following a high water year (1995). In 1998, the greatest number of species (39) was collected from Peoria Reach and the fewest species (14) were collected from Starved Rock Reach (Appendices D and E). The high richness of Peoria Reach is likely due, in part, to its position along the waterway which includes the Great Bend (above Hennepin) of the Illinois River. This reach represents a transition from a river which is constricted, lacks contiguous backwaters, and is high in gradient (upper river) to a large river floodplain system with low gradient (lower river) (Sparks 1977); species typical of both the upper and lower waterway have been collected and are common in Peoria Reach.

The total weight of fishes collected 1994-1998 was also highest in Peoria Reach, where CPUEw was 1 14.14 (Table 8). Species accounting for this high catch in weight were bigmouth buffalo, common carp, smallmouth buffalo, and white bass. Catch in weight was also high in La Grange and Alton Reaches. For example, of 1,860 pounds offish collected during our 1997 survey, 1,732 pounds (93%) were collected from the lower and middle river, and only 128 pounds (7%) were collected from the upper river. These catches reflect the high productivity of the lower and middle Illinois River floodplain ecosystem.

46

Sportfishes were collected throughout the waterway in during all five years of this project (1994-1998), although catch rate in number and weight varied among reaches. For channel catfish, we collected more individuals and pounds per hour in the Alton Reach (lower river) than in the middle or upper river reaches (Tables 6-15). The white bass, however, were most abundant and provided the highest CPUEw in the middle river; CPUEm was typically highest in La Grange Reach. Centrarchids such as black crappie were most abundant in the middle river reaches. Bluegill CPUEn was greatest in the upper watenway, although CPUEwwas typically highest in Peoria Reach of the middle river. Largemouth bass CPUEn has been greatest in Peoria Reach of the middle river. As in previous years of project F-101-R sampling, we collected only low numbers of smallmouth bass and sauger from the Illinois River Waten/vay, probably due to the locations of our sites, mostly in relatively shallow side channels behind islands.

47

LITERATURE CITED

Koel, T.M., R.E. Sparks, and K.D. Blodgett. 1998. The long-term Illinois River fish population monitoring program. Project F-108-R-9 Annual Report. Center for Aquatic Ecology Technical Report 98/8. Illinois Natural History Survey, Champaign. 35 pp.

Koel, T.M., R.E. Sparks, K.D. Blodgett, and S.D. Whitney. 1997. The long-term Illinois River fish population monitoring program (F-101-R-8). Annual Report to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. Aquatic Ecology Technical Report 97/14. Illinois Natural History Survey, Champaign. 35 pp.

Kofoid, C.A. 1903. Plankton studies. IV. The plankton of the Illinois River, 1894- 1899, with introductory notes upon the hydrography of the Illinois River and its basin. Part I. Quantitative investigations and general results. Illinois State Laboratory of Natural History Bulletin 6(2):95-635.

Lerczak, T.V., R.E. Sparks, and K.D. Blodgett. 1993. The long-term Illinois River fish population monitoring program (F-101-R). Annual Report to the Illinois Department of Conservation. Aquatic Ecology Technical Report 93/3. Illinois Natural History Survey, Champaign. 76 pp.

Lerczak, T.V. and R.E. Sparks. 1994. Fish populations in the Illinois River. Pages 239-241 in K.P. Pabich, editor. The changing Illinois environment: critical trends, volume 3, ecological resources. ILENR/RE-EA-95/05. Illinois Department of Energy and Natural Resources, Springfield.

Lerczak, T.V., R.E. Sparks, and K.D. Blodgett. 1994. The long-term Illinois River fish population monitoring program (F-101-R). Final Report to the Illinois Department of Conservation. Aquatic Ecology Technical Report 94/5. Illinois Natural History Survey, Champaign. 105 pp.

Lerczak, T.V., R.E. Sparks, and K.D. Blodgett. 1995. The long-term Illinois River fish population monitoring program (F-101-R-6). Annual Report to the Illinois Department of Conservation. Aquatic Ecology Technical Report 95/4. Illinois Natural History Survey, Champaign. 50 pp.

Lerczak, T.V., R.E. Sparks, and K.D. Blodgett. 1996. The long-term Illinois River fish population monitoring program (F-101-R-7). Annual Report to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. Aquatic Ecology Technical Report 96/2. Illinois Natural History Survey, Champaign. 38 pp.

48

Pflieger, W.L. 1975. The fishes of Missouri. Missouri Department of Conservation. 343 pp.

Robins, C.R., R.M. Bailey, C.E. Bond, J.R. Brooker, E.A. Lachner, R.N. Lea, and W.B. Scott. 1991. Common and scientific names of fishes from the United States and Canada. Special Publication number 20. American Fisheries Society, Bethesda, MD.

Sparks, R.E. 1977. Environmental inventory and assessment of navigation pools 24, 25, and 26, Upper Mississippi and lower Illinois Rivers: an electrofishing survey of the Illinois River, Special Report No. 5 Water Resources Center, University of Illinois, Urbana. 82 pp.

Sparks, R.E. and W.C. Starrett. 1975. An electrofishing survey of the Illinois River, 1959-1974. Illinois Natural History Survey Bulletin 31:317-380.

Sparks, R.E. and T.V. Lerczak. 1993. Recent trends in the Illinois River indicated by fish populations. Aquatic Ecology Technical Report 93/16. Illinois Natural History Survey, Champaign. 34 pp.

49

APPENDIX A. Fish species collected during Long-term Resource Monitoring of the Illinois Waterway, 1957-1998. Cotmon names marked by an asterisk indicate species that were collected from 1989 through 1998 during federal aid project F-101-R. Common and scientific names are from Robins et al. (1991). Habitat associations are based on behavioral descriptions from Pflieger (1975) and coninuni cat ions with INHS fisheries biologists.

Fami ly Name

Common Name

Scientific Name

(B

Habitat Association benthic, blank = pelagic)

Lepisosteidae

Hiodontidae

Angui I lidae Clupeidae

Longnose gar" shortnose gar spotted gar*

goldeye* mooneye*

American eel

gizzard shad* skipjack herring* threadfin shad*

bigmouth shiner* bluntnose minnow' bul Ihead minnow* common carp* common carp x

goldfish* central stonerol conmon shiner creek chub emerald shiner* fathead minnow* ghost shiner golden shiner* goldfish* grass carp* hornyhead chub Mississippi si' pugnose minnow red shiner* redfin shiner ribbon shiner river shiner* sand shiner* spotfin shiner si Iver chub* silverband shiner* si Iver jaw minnow spottail shiner* steelcolor shiner striped shiner suckermouth minnow'

very minnow

NotroDis dorsal is

Pimeohales viqilax

Cvprinus carpi o x

Campostoma anomalum

Luxi lus cornutus Semoti I us Notropis Pimephales promelas Notropis buchanani Notemiqonus crvsoleucas Carassius auratus

Nocomis biquttatus Hvboqnathus nuchal is Opsopoeodus emi I iae Cvprinel la lutrensis

Lvthr

umbrat i

Lvthrurus fumeus Notropis blennius Notropis stramineus Cvprinel la spi loptera Macrhvbopsis storeriana Notropis shumardi Notropis buccatus Notropis hudsonius Cvprinel I a whipplei lux'tus chrvsocephalus Phenacobius mirabi I is

Catostomidae

bigmouth buffalo* black buffalo* black redhorse golden redhorse* highfin carpsucker* northern hog sucker* qui I Iback* river carpsucker* river redhorse* shorthead redhorse* silver redhorse smallmouth buffalo* white sucker*

Ictiobus cvprinel lus Ictiobus niqer Moxostoma duquesnei Moxostoma ervthrurum Carpi odes velifer Hvpentelium niqricans Carpi odes gyprinus Carpi odes ggrpiq stoma

50

Appendix A. Continued.

Fami ly Name

Conmon Name

Habitat Association (B = benthic, blank = pelagic)

Ictaluridae

Salmomdae

black bullhead* blue catfish brown bul I head* channel catfish* flathead catfish* freckled madtom* tadpole madtom white catfish ye I low bul I head*

grass pickerel* northern pike

rainbow trout

Percopsidae trout-perch

Cyprinodontidae blackstripe topminnow*

Poeciliidae western mosqui tof ish*

Atherinidae brook silverside*

ichthyidae

Centrarchidae

Sciaenidae

striped bass striped bass x white bass* white bass* white perch* yel low bass*

black crappie* bluegi 1 1* green sunfish* green sunfish x

bluegi 1 1* green sunfish x

orangespotted sunfish* green sunfish x

pumpk i nseed largemouth bass* longear sunfish* orangespotted sunfish* orangespotted sunfish x

bluegi 1 1 pumpk i nseed* redear sunfish* rock bass* smal Imcuth bass* spotted sunfish* warmouth* white crappie*

bluntnose darter

johnny darter

logperch*

mud darter*

sauger*

slenderhead darter*

wal I eye*

yel low perch*

freshwater drum*

jrus me I as Ictalurus furcatus Ameiurus nebulosus Ictalurus punctatus Pvlodictis ol ivaris Noturus nocturnus Noturus qyrinus Ameiurus catus Ameiurus natal "

Pomo, _

crochi Lepomis cvanel lus Lepomis cvanel lus

Lepomi

Lepomis humi Lepomis humi I is x L. macrochirus Lepomi s q i bbosus Lepomis mj

EUte

pterus dol( Lepomi s punct; Lepomis gulosus Pomox i s annularis

Etheostoma chloroson Etheostoma nigrum Percina caprodes Etheostoma asprigene Stizostedion canader Percina phoxocephaU Stizostedion vi treun Perca f lavescens

51

APPENDIX B. Numbers of individuals of each fish species collected on the Mississippi River (Brickhouse Slough) and the lower

Illinois River (Alton Reach, RM 0-80) in 1998.
River Mile and Hours Fished
Miss, River		Lower Illinois River
0.0 Species 1.00	19.0 1 00	24.7 26.8 30.0 1.00 1.00 1.00	58.3 1.00	Total 5.00

Clupeidae

gizzard shad 33 10 44 26 23 15 118

threadfin shad 0 3 2 0 5 0 10

Cypnnidae

bullhead minnow -0 0 1 0 0 0 1

bluntnose minnow 1 0 0 0 0 0 0

common carp 4 10 1 5 15 13 44

golden shiner 1 0 0 0 0 0 0

emerald shiner 7 1 4 2 63 6 76

grass carp 0 0 0 10 0 1

red shiner 0 0 0 10 0 1

silverband shiner 0 0 0 0 0 1 1

spotfin shiner 0 0 10 0 0 1

Catostomidae

bigmouth buffalo 0 2 0 6 6 4 18

river carpsucker 3 0 0 0 0 1 1

smallmouth buffalo 0 0 3 0 11 5

Ictaluridae

channel catfish 5 4 9 7 15 6 41

flathead catfish 0 2 4 1 3 1 11

Cyprinodontidae

blackstripe topminnow 0 0 0 0 0 1 1

Percichthyidae

white bass 6 7 8 5 9 1 30 yellow bass

Centrarchidae

black crappie 0 0 0 0 11 2

bluegill 15 7 18 . 3 12 12 52

bluegill X green sunfish 0 0 0 0 10 1

green sunfish 0 0 10 10 2

largemouth bass 1 3 2 0 11 7

orangespotted sunfish 19 0 0 0 1 0 1

Percidae

mud darter 0 0 0 10 0 1

sauger 1 10 0 0 0 1

Sciaenidae

freshvrater drum	15	3	9	5	13	6	36
Total individuals Total species/hybrids	111 13/0	53 12/0	107 14/0	63 12/0	170 15/1	70 15/0	463 24/1

52

APPENDIX C Numbers of I River (RM 80-231) in 1998

iduals of each fish species collected on La Grange Reach (RM 80-158) of the middle Illinois

Species

River Mile and Hours Fished

						La Grange	Middle
						Reach	River
86 5	95 1	107 1	1130	148 0	155 1	Total	Total
100	1 00	1 00	100	0 50	1 00	5 50	13 50
108	82	12	65	2	7	276	799
0	1	0	0	1	0	2	5
1	0	0	0	3	0	4	29

Clupeidae

gizzard shad

skipiack herring

threadfin shad Hiodontidae

goldeye Cyprinidae

bluntnose minnow

common carp

emerald shiner

goldfish

red shiner

silverband shiner Catostomidae

bigmouth buffalo

black buffalo

quillback

river carpsucker

shorthead redhorse

smallmouth buffalo

white sucker Ictaluridae

channel catfish

flathead catfish Percichthyidae

white bass

yellow bass Centrarchidae

black crappie

bluegill

green sunfish

largemouth bass

warmouth

white crappie Percidae

sauger Sciaenidae

freshwater drum

0	0	0	1	0	0	1	6
2	41	15	45	11	20	134	207
	0	1	2	0	0	5	17
0	0	1	0	0	1	2	5
1	0	0	0	0	0	1	1
0	3	0	0	0	0	3	3
0	0	13	4	0	1	18	67
0	1	0	0	0	0	1	3
2	0	0	0	0	0	2	2
0	0	0	2	0	0	2	19
1	0	0	0	2	2	5	11
3	0	9	18	0	4	34	125
0	0	0	0	0	1	1	1
4	5	4	7	3	2	25	44
2		3	2	1	1	10	19
8	7	9	9	12	71	116	203
0	0	1	0	0	0	1	1
1	0	9	1	0	0	11	65
18		26	21	2	1	70	284
0	0	3	0	0	0	3	101
3	1		6	0	0	18	88
0	0	1	0	0	0	1	3
	0	0	0	0	0	1	8
1	0	0	6	1	3	11	19
4	12	16	25	3	66	126	259

Total individuals Total species/hybrids

131

16/0

214

15/0

41 11/0

885 29/0

2474 39/2

53

ollected on Peona Reach (RM 158-231) of the middle Illinois River (RM 80-231) in 1998

Species 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 8 00 13 50

Clupeidae

gizzard shad 32 187 20 53 27 6 155 43 523 799

skipiack hernng 0 0 0 110 10 3 5

threadfin shad 01008394 25 29

Cypnnidae

bullhead minnow 0 0 10 0 0 0 0 0 10 10

bluntnos

grass carp silver chub

spottail shiner Catostomidae bigmouth buffalo black buffalo golden redhorse

shorthead redhorse

smallmouth buffalo Ictaluridae

channel catfish

flathead catfish Poeciliidae

mosquitofish Percichthyidae

Centrarchidae

bluegill

bluegill X green sunfis

slenderhead darter Sciaenidae

freshwater drum Total individuals Total species/hybrids

207

54

APPENDIX E Numbers of individuals of each fish species collected on Starved Rock, Mar Illinois River waterway (RM 231-280) in 1998

iilles. and Dresden Reaches of the upper

Species

		River Mile and Hours Fished
Starved Rock		Ma	rseilles		Dresden		Upper Waterway Total
240 8 1 00	241 5 1 00	248 0 100	249 6 075	260 6 100	277 3 0 75	279 8 100	6 50
29 0 8	87 7 4	12 0 0 13	25 0 5 0	19 0 0	25 0 0 3	12 0 22	209 21 44

Clupeidae

gizzard shad

skipjack herring Cypnnidae

bullhead minnow

bluntnose minnow

common carp

emerald shiner

golden shiner

spotfin shiner

spottail shiner Catostomidae

golden redhorse

quillback

river carpsucker

smallmouth buffalo Ictaluridae

channel catfish Cyprinodontidae

blackstripe topminnow Percichthyidae

white bass Centrarchidae

black crappie

bluegill

bluegill X green sunfish

bluegill X orangespotted sunfish

green sunfish

largemouth bass

orangespotted sunfish

pumpkinseed

smallmouth bass Sciaenidae

0	6
12	32
2	10
0
SO	67
2	19
1
0

freshwater drum	0	1	1	0	1	2	0	5
Total individuals Total species/hybrids	210 14/0	247 15/0	107 15/1	66 7/0	118 13/1	100 14/2	105 14/1	953 24/2

55

APPENDIX F. Species richness (S) at Long-term Illinois River Fish Population Monitoring (F-101-R) sites

Description	Site*	Reach	Low S (year)	High S (yearj_	Mean s'
Treats Island	279.8	3	11	1992)	19	1995)	15
Du Page River	277.3	3	12	1989 & 1992)	18	1994)	15
Waupecan Island	260.6	4	11	1996)	19	1989)	14
Johnson Island	249.6	4	6	1993)	16	1995)	12
Ballards Island	2480	4	10	1991)	19	1995)	15
Bulls Island Bend	241 5	5	8	1990)	18	1993)	14
Bulls Island	240.8	5	8	1990 & 1996)	16	1989)	12
Clark Island	215.3	6	11	1990)	21	1995)	15
Hennepin	207.6	6	2	1990)	20	1998)	11
Upper Twin Sister	203.3	6	8	1990)	17	1989,94,97)	14
Lower Twin Sister	202 8	6	7	1992)	16	1995 & 1998)	12
Henry Island	193.8	6	12	1991)	19	1996)	15
Chillicothe	180.6	6	14	1989.91,92,96)	22	1997)	16
Lambie's Boat Harbor	1703	6	9	1989)	20	1996)	16
Lower Peoria Lake	163.3	6	10	1989)	16	1996)	14
Pekin	155.1	7	6	1992)	16	1996)	11
Turkey Island	1480	7	9	1989 & 1997)	15	1990)	11
Upper Bath Chute	113,0	7	12	1994)	18	1989 & 1996)	15
Lower Bath Chute	107.0	7	9	1992)	18	1990)	15
Sugar Creek Island	95 1	7	10	1989)	19	1995)	14
Grape-Bar Islands	86,5	7	7	1989)	23	1994)	14
Big Blue Island	58.3	8	9	1990)	19	1995)	14
Crater-Willow Islands	30.0	8	12	1992 & 1994)	17	1989)	15
Hurricane Island	26.8	8	11	1990)	20	1997)	15
Dark Chute	24.7	8	11	1994)	17	1990)	14
Mortiand Island	190	8	11	1989)	16	1991 & 1997)	14
Brickhouse Slough	0.0	26	10	1990)	17	1991 & 1995)	15

Sites 0.0-215.3 were not sampled during 1993 (n=9 years) (sites 240.8-279.8 n=10 years).

56

Appendix G (Job 5). Publications, reports, and presentations which resulted from research conducted during segments 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 of project F-101-R, the Long- term Illinois River Fish Population Monitoring Program (funded under Federal Aid in Sportfish Restoration Act, P.L. 81-681, Dingell-Johnson, Wallop-Breaux).

I. Publications

Koel, T.M. 1998. Channel catfish {Ictalurus punctatus) in the Upper Mississippi River System. Project Status Report 98-1 1 . U.S. Geological Survey, Environmental Management Technical Center, Onalaska, Wisconsin.

Koel, T.M., R. Sparks, and R.E. Sparks. 1998. Channel catfish in the Upper Mississippi River System. Survey Reports No. 353. Illinois Natural History Survey, Champaign.

Lerczak, T.V., R.E. Sparks, and K.D. Blodgett. 1994. Some upstream-to- downstream differences in Illinois River fish communities. Transactions of the Illinois State Academy of Science 87(Supplement);53. (Abstract)

Lerczak, T.V. 1995. Fish community changes in the Illinois River, 1962-1994. American Currents (Summer Issue).

Lerczak, T.V. 1995. The gizzard shad in nature's economy. Illinois Audubon. (Summer Issue). Reprinted in Big River 2(12):1-3.

Lerczak, T.V. and R.E. Sparks. 1995. Fish populations in the Illinois River. Pages 7-9 in G.S. Farris, editor. Our living resources 1994. National Biological Survey, Washington, D.C.

Lerczak, T.V., R.E. Sparks, and K.D. Blodgett, 1995. Long-term trends (1959-1994) in fish populations of the Illinois River. Transactions of the Illinois State Academy of Science 88(Supplement):74. (Abstract)

Lerczak, T.V., R.E. Sparks, and K.D. Blodgett. 1995. Long-term trends (1959-1994) in fish populations of the Illinois River with emphasis on upstream-to-downstream trends. Proceedings of the Mississippi River Research Consortium 27:62-63.

Lerczak, T.V. 1996. Illinois River fish communities: 1960s versus 1990s. Illinois Natural History Survey Report No. 339.

Raibley, P.T., K.D. Blodgett, and R.E. Sparks. 1995. Evidence of grass carp {Ctenopharyngodon idella) reproduction in the Illinois and upper Mississippi Rivers. Journal of Freshwater Ecology 10:65-74.

57

Sparks, R.E. 1995. Value and need for ecosystem management of large rivers and their floodplalns. Bloscience 45:168-182.

Sparks, R.E. 1995. Environmental effects. Pages 132-162 in S.A. Changnon, editor. The great flood of 1993. University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) and Westvlew Press.

II. Technical Papers (presenter In bold)

Koel, T.M. and R.E. Sparks. 1999. Interannual variation in catches of young-of-year fish correlated with hydrology of the Upper Mississippi River System. 47'^ Annual Meeting of the North American Benthologlcal Society, May 23-24, Duluth, Minnesota.

Koel, T.M. 1999. Changes In fish community structure: effects of hydrologlcal variability in the Upper Mississippi River System. Presented to the Illinois Natural History Survey, Center for Aquatic Ecology, Havana Field Station Director Search Committee and Senior Staff, March 24, 1999.

Koel, T.M. 1998. Spatial and temporal variability of channel catfish populations in the Upper Mississippi River System. Illinois Department of Natural Resources LTRMP field station biannual retreat, December 15, Dickson Mounds, Illinois.

Koel, T.M. 1998. Long Term Resource Monitoring Program Showcase: analysis of catfish catch. Environmental Management Program Coordinating Committee, Fall Quarterly Meeting, November 19-20, Rock Island, Illinois.

Koel, T.M. and K.D. Blodgett. 1998. Fish-environment associations: effects of inter- annual hydrologlcal variability on fish populations of the Illinois River waterway, 1957-1997. Upper Mississippi River Conservation Committee, Fish Technical Section Annual Fall Meeting, September 15-17, Dubuque, Iowa.

Koel, T.M., K.S. Irons, T.M. O'Hara, K.D. Blodgett, and R.E. Sparks. 1998. Changes in fish community structure: effects of hydrologlcal variability in the Upper Mississippi River System. 128th Annual Meeting of the American Fisheries Society. August 23-27, Hartford, Connecticut.

Koel, T.M., T.M. Mihuc, R.E. Sparks, and K.D. Blodgett. Upper Mississippi River System status and trends report. Fish species-environment relationships: LTRMP data analysis and preliminary results. 54th Annual Meeting of the Upper Mississippi River Conservation Committee, Moline, Illinois, 17-19 March 1998.

Blodgett, K.D. and T.M. Mihuc. Decision support using Long Term Resource Monitoring Program component data and supplementary data on the Illinois River. 54th Annual Meeting of the Upper Mississippi River Conservation Committee, Moline, Illinois, 17-19 March 1998.

58

Koel, T.M. and T.M. Mihuc. Fish abundance in the La Grange Reach of the Illinois River correlated with environmental factors: problems of cross-component analysis. Presented at the Long Term Resource Monitoring Program Annual Winter Meeting, Davenport, Iowa, 13 January 1998.

Lerczak, T.V., R.E. Sparks, and K.D. Blodgett. Some upstream-to-downstream differences in Illinois River fish communities. Contributed paper presented at the Illinois State Academy of Science Annual Meeting, Galesburg, Illinois, 7 October 1994.

Sparks, R.E. Large river-floodplain ecosystems of the Midwest: status, trends, and management needs. Presented at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's "Ecological Seminar Series" held in Chicago, Illinois, 14 March.

III. Poster Presentations (presenter in bold)

Koel, T.M. and R.E. Sparks. 1998. The Long-term Illinois River Fish Population Monitoring Program. National Meeting of the Ecological Society of America, August 10-14, Spokane, Washington.

Lerczak, T.V., R.E. Sparks, and K.D. Blodgett. Long-term trends (1959-1993) in fish populations of the Illinois River. Poster presented at the 56th Midwest Fish and Wildlife Conference, Indianapolis, Indiana, 4-7 December 1994.

Lerczak, T.V., R.E. Sparks, and K.D. Blodgett. Long-term trends (1959-1994) in fish populations of the Illinois River. Poster presented at the Illinois State Academy of Science Annual Meeting, Charleston, Illinois, 6 October 1995.

Lerczak, T.V., R.E. Sparks, and K.D. Blodgett. Long-term trends (1959-1994) in fish populations of the Illinois River with emphasis on upstream-to-downstream differences. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Mississippi River Research Consortium, La Crosse, Wisconsin, 26-28 April 1995.

IV. Popular Presentations

Lerczak, T.V. Wintering bald eagles along the Illinois River and factors affecting their environment. Invited presentation to the Peoria Audubon Society, Peoria, Illinois, 8 March 1995.

Lerczak, T.V. Seminar on Illinois River environmental issues. Conducted for Biology 140 (Human Ecology) at Spoon River College, 27 June 1994.

Lerczak, T.V. A photo trip up the Illinois River. After dinner talk presented to Havana Rotary Club, Havana, Illinois, 17 April 1995.

59

Blodgett, K.D. Ecosystem management for the Illinois River: can biological integrity be restored? Invited lecture for Earth Day celebration at Spoon River College, Canton , Illinois, 19 April 1995.

V. Data Requests

1. Sam Cull, City of Peru, Electric Department, Peru, Illinois

2. Stanley and Associates, Muscatine, Iowa

3. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Rock Island

4. Shelly Miller, Aquatic Ecologist, The Nature Conservancy, Peoria

5. K. Douglas Blodgett, Project Manager, The Nature Conservancy, Havana

6. Kevin Irons, Fishery Biologist, LTRMP, Havana

60

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