Geographic Distribution
The yellowfin madtom is largely found in Citico Creek of Monroe County, Tennessee and reintroduced into Abrams Creek in Frederick County, Virginia. Prior to 1893, N. flavipinnis is thought to have been present throughout the upper Tennessee River drainage system. The species was thought to be extinct when it was described in 1969; thirty years after the Norris Dam on the Clinch River became operational. While the newly built dam isolated populations of the yellowfin madtom, it also led to the discovery of N. flavipinnis in Citico Creek. One hypothesis as to why the yellow fin madtom is poorly distributed can be attributed to the building of dams in the Clinch River system. The dam affects the distribution of yellowfin madtom, who most notably are found upstream, from being able to have their populations from coming into contact with one another. Another hypothesis is that increased siltation in the small river streams has had negative effects on N. flavipinnis. Soil erosion brought on by poor agricultural practices in the constantly flooding Tennessee River Valley brought more siltation into the streams where for unknown reasons the yellowfin madtom was not able to adjust properly.
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