FISHES OF THE BUFFALO RIVER SYSTEM, WILKINSON COUNTY, SOUTHWESTERN MISSISSIPPI Mark A. Warren AiLUiti Community College, Cedar Park, TX 78613 Robert C. Cashner Department of Biological Sciences, University of New Orleans, New Orleans, LA 70148' AND Royal D. Suttkus Museum of Natural History, Tulane University, Belle Chasse, LA 70037 Abstract The occurrence and distribution of the fishes of the Buffalo River in south-western Mississippi were determined from two major surveys conducted from 1968-1971 and 1986-1991, as well as museum and literature records. In all, 95 species, from 20 families and 50 genera, were documented from the Buffalo River system. Cyprinids, centrarchids, poeciliids, fundulids, and clupeids were numerically dominant in both surveys. Longitudinal distribution of fishes in Buffalo River showed progressive downstream addition, with a large-scale re-placement in the lower reaches. Monthly collections were made at six permanent stations from September 1986 to October 1987. Community similarity indices revealed relatively low faunal similarity between upper and lower sections of Buffalo River, and a strong pattern of seasonal variation in the lower section of the river. Introduction The importance of the Mississippi River in fish biogeography has been dis-cussed in detail (Guillory, 1978, 1982; Grady et al., 1983; Conner and Suttkus, 1986). Fishes have been surveyed in several tributaries to the eastern part of the Mississippi River in Mississippi and Louisiana (Guillory, 1981, 1982; Grady et al., 1983; Cashner et al., 1979; Grady and Cashner, 1988; Ebert et al., 1985; Matthews, 1978), but only a few of the detailed results of these surveys have been published. Buffalo River (or Buffalo Bayou) is the lowermost eastern major tributary to the Mississippi River. Fish collections were made sporadically in the Buffalo River by R. D. Suttkus and students at Tulane University in the mid-1950's and early 1960's. The first comprehensive survey of the drainage was from November 1968 to July 1971, in which 68 collections were made at 17 sites located primarily in the upper and middle reaches of the river (Cashner et al., 1976). The present study included a second major survey conducted from Sep-tember 1986 to November 1991. During this period, 140 collections were made Tulane Studies in Zoology and Botany 29: 127-139. 1994. 127
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