Fishes in Muddy Creek, Erie National Wildlife Refuge-Seneca Division, with Emphasis on Host Species for Federal and State-Listed Freshwater Mussels and State-Listed Fishes Final Project Report for the Erie National Wildlife Refuge

Abstract

Muddy Creek, Crawford County, PA is one of 10 major sub-basins of the French Creek watershed. The portion of Muddy Creek that flows through the Erie National Wildlife Refuge-Seneca Division provides habitat for 22 species of freshwater mussels, including two federally- and state-listed as endangered and one federal candidate species. The purpose of this project was to sample for fishes in the portion of Muddy Creek flowing through the Erie National Wildlife Refuge-Seneca Division to determine the presence and distributions of host fishes for federally- and state-listed freshwater mussels and of state-listed fishes. We collected 48 species of fish (3,221 individuals) including 24 of the 31 species in the French Creek watershed reported to serve as mussel hosts (1,023 individuals) and seven of the 24 state-listed fishes (177 individuals) thought to live in the French Creek watershed. We present new fish data, the associations of freshwater mussels and their host fishes at 19 sampling sites, and the listing status (by the Pennsylvania Natural History Program) of the sampled fishes and reported mussels.