The Distribution of Fishes in the Little Tennessee River System

This paper is the product of a study of the ichthyofaunal distribution within the Little Tennessee River. This system is a major tributary to the Tennessee River.

A total of 212 collections are included in this paper. Of this total, 67 were made by the author. The remainder of the collections were made by various agencies and individuals. Of the total number of collections made by the author, approximately half were done using diving gear and employing sight identification. The remaining collections were accomplished with the aid of seines.

Included in this paper is a list of the species of fish which inhabit the river system with a description of habitat preferences and distributions within the system.

Also included is a discussion of the various ichthyofaunal units which exist in the system and the species which characterize each unit. The effects of alteration of the river system by man as shown by broken distributional patterns and species diversity is discussed.