Freckled Madtom (Noturus nocturnus) Discovered in the Spring River Subbasin of Kansas

Abstract

The distribution of Freckled Madtom (Noturus nocturnus) in Kansas includes the Lower Arkansas and Walnut River drainages of southcentral Kansas and the Little Osage, Marais des Cygnes, Neosho, and Verdigris River drainages of eastern Kansas. Freckled Madtom have not been previously reported from the Spring River subbasin in southeastern Kansas, although there is one record in 1942 from the Spring River subbasin of Missouri. Here we report the collection of five Freckled Madtom individuals from four locations along the Spring River mainstem in Cherokee County, Kansas during July–August 2020. All individuals were presumed to be young-of-year at ≤ 21 mm total length. Our finding of Freckled Madtom in the Spring River of Kansas has conservation implications since it is a Tier 2 Species of Greatest Conservation Need in the state.