Yellowfin Madtom - Abstract

Abstract

Noturus flavipinnis, better known as the yellowfin madtom, is a federally threatened species of the Ictaluridae family. This page is being expanded in order to raise awareness of the severely low populations of the yellowfin madtom and to help facilitate the monitoring of the yellowfin madtom. Historically, the yellowfin madtom was widespread throughout the upper Tennessee River drainage, but was thought to be extinct by the time it was formally described. Since then, populations of the yellowfin madtom have been found in Copper Creek and the Clinch River in Virginia, the Powell River and Citico Creek in Tennessee, and a few populations have also been found in the streams of northern Georgia, though the yellowfin madtom is now listed as extripated in Georgia. Sites in Citico Creek where the yellowfin madtom has been collected notably have been upstream of a dam built in 1973 while its neighbor Noturus baileyi occupies the downstream portion of the river. Yellowfin madtom are found in backwaters and pools around rocks less than 30 cm in diameter and tree roots in clear creeks and small rivers. Yellowfin madtoms are primarily nocturnal and presumably opportunistic feeders, preying on aquatic invertebrates, small fish, and scavenging. During the daytime, the yellowfin madtom often hides in brushpiles, bedrock crevices, and can even bury itself under several inches of gravel. Since 1986, populations of the yellowfin madtom from Citico Creek have been captured and bred in laboratory to be reintroduced into Abrams Creek in Blount County, Tennessee, which in 1957 had half of its 64 species extirpated by ichthyocides with the intention to increase trout fishery. From 1986 until 2003, the population of the yellowfin madtom in Abrams Creek has increased to 1574. Currently, yellowfin madtom are no longer stocked and released into Abrams Creek.