The seasonal distribution of larval fish in the Cumberland River was studied in 1974 and 1975 as part of an environmental monitoring program at the site of the proposed Hartsville Nuclear Power Plant near Dixon Springs, Tennessee. Meter and half-meter diameter nets were used to collect 13,571 larval or young juvenile fish of 13 families during evening hours from April to mid-August. Clupeids, catostomids and Lepomis sp. dominated the collections during both years. Concentrations of larval fish were significantly IP≤ 0.05) higher in the Dixon Creek backwater area than in the river proper. Equations were developed by stepwise multiple regression to predict the seasonal abundance of major taxa and total larval fish populations by water temperature and discharge correlations.
