James M. Long

The shoal bass (Micropterus cataractae) is a sport fish endemic to the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint Basin of the southeastern United States. Introgression with several non-native congeners poses a pertinent threat to shoal bass conservation, particularly in the altered habitats of the Chattahoochee River. Our primary objective was to characterize hybridization in shoal bass populations near Atlanta, Georgia, including a population inhabiting Big Creek and another in the main stem Chattahoochee River below Morgan Falls Dam (MFD). A secondary objective was to examine the accuracy of...

Accurate age and growth information is essential in successful management of fish populations and for understanding early life history. We validated daily increment deposition, including the timing of first ring formation, for spotted gar (Lepisosteus oculatus) through 127 days post hatch. Fry were produced from hatchery-spawned specimens, and up to 10 individuals per week were sacrificed and their otoliths (sagitta, lapillus, and asteriscus) removed for daily age estimation. Daily age estimates for all three otolith pairs were significantly related to known age. The strongest...

Accurate age and growth information is essential for a complete knowledge of life history, growth rates, age at sexual maturity, and average life span in fishes. Alligator gar are becoming increasingly managed throughout their range and because this species spawns in backwater flooded areas, their offspring are prone to stranding in areas with limited prey, potentially affecting their growth. Because fish growth is tightly linked with otolith growth and annulus formation, the ability to discern marks not indicative of annuli (age checks) in alligator gar would give managers some insight...

While the downstream effects of dams on fish habitat have long been recognized, broad-scale assessments of tailwater fish habitat have rarely been conducted. In this paper, I report on the status of tailwater fisheries in Oklahoma as determined through a web-based survey of fisheries biologists with the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation conducted in July 2010. Respondents addressed 38 tailwaters, encompassing all major areas of the state. The majority of fish species comprising these fisheries included blue catfish (Ictalurus furcatus), followed by white bass (Morone chrysops...

From April 1999 through February 2000, we electrofished fixed transects in two freshwater tidal wetlands of the Cooper River, South Carolina, to examine how spatial and temporal variation in these habitats influenced fish community composition. The Dean Hall site consisted of a collection of tidal creeks with intertidal, emergent vegetation and large fluctuations in submersed habitat due to tide. The Bonneau Ferry site was lacustrine, dominated by submergent vegetation, and fluctuated very little with the tide. We found 34 total species. Most were a species of Centrarchidae (41%) or an...

We measured total length and weight and estimated daily age of 50 young-of-year shoal bass (Micropterus cataractae) collected from a hatchery pond in southwest Georgia. Daily age was estimated using otoliths and was considered the median age of ring counts from one reader who counted rings in each otolith independently three times. This sample of young-of-year shoal bass averaged 28.55 days old, 24.04 mm in total length, and 0.13 grams in weight. Daily growth rates averaged 0.85 mm day-1. The length-weight relationship was described by the equation: weight = 0.0043e0.1399*length. The...

We analyzed relationships between largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) recruitment and environmental characteristics in Skiatook Lake, Oklahoma, from 1997 through 1999. Catch rates of young-of-year (YOY) were positively associated with inflows into the reservoir during the spawning season (April-May), whereas juvenile catch rates were positively related to reservoir releases during the post-spawning period (Jun-Nov). Abundance of juvenile fish in fall electrofishing samples increased from 1997 through 1999. No evidence of over-winter mortality was detected. Estimated swim-up dates for...