DISTRIBUTION OF THE BANTAM SUNFISH, LEPOMIS SYMMETRICUS (PERCIFORMES: CENTRARCHIDAE), IN ARKANSAS

摘要

This study reports 77 new geographic and 15 new county records for the bantam sunfish, Lepomis symmetricus, collected between May 1988 and June 2007 in 30 counties of Arkansas. Detailed distributional data are included as well as an updated map showing the overall distribution of this fish in the state. Bantam sunfish were collected from all major drainages within the Gulf Coastal Plain and Mississippi Alluvial Plain physiographic provinces of Arkansas, including the Arkansas, Ouachita, Mississippi, Red, Saline, St. Francis and White rivers. Based on these new collections and historical records of the past, it is believed that populations of L. symmetricus in Arkansas are stable and do not warrant a protected legal status.