AFS 2011 Student Writing Contest-Honorable Mention Winner: Filth, Flows, and Family: Pressures Mount on a Rare Stream Catfish

摘要

Slow, dark creeks cut through the agricultural checkerboard of eastern North Carolina. Bands of tobacco, soybeans, and subdivisions divide the wide-open spaceot unlike the light and dark stripes that adorn one of this area elusive and endemic stream fish, the Carolina madtom. Jordan and Meek first described this stout, 5-inch catfish in 1889, when it was found hiding under rocks in only two North Carolina watersheds. They called it Noturus furiosusurious for its powerful, envenomating sting, and perhaps a description of the first sampling trip. Over the past 120 years, the species has fought water pollution, altered flow, and familyhe newly arrived and ravenous flathead catfish, its epigenetic cousin. Though the Carolina madtom is still holed up in parts of North Carolina, recent work has clearly demonstrated the speciescontracting range. A rigorous investigation into habitat use and availability would be critical to mapping out a future for this declining species.