Collection in Oklahoma of a Rare Fish Species, Notropis chalybaeus (Cyprinidae)

The ironcolor shiner, Notropis chalybaeus, is a small cyprinid distinguished from congeners by having slightly falcate dorsal and anal fins, a prominent lateral band beginning around the snout and extending the length of the body, a distinct caudal spot, dark pigment outlining the anal fin and extending mid-ventrally onto the caudal peduncle, and dark pigmentation on the roof and floor of the mouth (1). The species occurs in pools and along margins of sluggish, lowland rivers and streams, usually in association with clean, sandy substrate and aquatic vegetation (1,2), and is found in Coastal Plains drainages from Texas to New York. Disjunct populations exist in the Illinois River drainage of Illinois and Indiana and around Lake Michigan (3). The species is considered rare in a number of states (4-8) and has been extirpated from Iowa (7). On 2 March 1997, we collected a single specimen of N. chalybaeus from a large, backwater pool of the Little River, 9 km south of Broken Bow, McCurtain County, Oklahoma (T7S R24E S14). This specimen was deposited in the Oklahoma State University Collection of Vertebrates (OSUS 27510). To our knowledge, this is the fourth record of N. chalybaeus from Oklahoma, all of which are from McCurtain County. In 1925, Ortenburger and Hubbs (9) collected 10 specimens from Mountain Fork River, 16 km southeast of Broken Bow; six of these specimens are cataloged in the Oklahoma Museum of Natural History (OKMNH 05945). Following this record, the species was not collected in Oklahoma for 30 years. In 1955 five specimens were taken b