Mesohabitat and macroecological correlates for blue sucker (Cycleptus elongatus) occurrence in regulated rivers

Abstract

Blue sucker (Cycleptus elongatus) populations occur in the Mississippi River and Gulf of Mexico drainages of North America and are negatively affected by habitat fragmentation and flow regime alteration caused by dams. During fish assemblage surveys in August of 2022, we collected five juvenile blue suckers (312–428 mm total length) in the Angelina River upstream of Sam Rayburn Reservoir in East Texas (46,335 ha surface area) where the occurrence of the species was previously unconfirmed. Given this unexpected finding, we (1) analyzed mesohabitat associations to compare habitats we sampled with reports in the literature and (2) reviewed blue sucker occurrences in state, national, and global databases across historical (1950–1980) and contemporary (1981–2022) time periods to assess occurrence across gradients of habitat fragmentation and streamflow regulation. The blue sucker population in the Angelina River upstream of Sam Rayburn Reservoir was previously unconfirmed but is within the native range. Mesohabitats occupied by blue suckers were consistent with literature reports, including fast velocity, shallow depth, and coarse substrates. The low degree of regulation (19% of natural runoff stored by upstream reservoirs) and a high degree of habitat connectivity (287 rkm of unfragmented mainstem habitat) for the Angelina River upstream of Sam Rayburn Reservoir matched range‐wide patterns of persistence within relatively intact (unfragmented and unregulated) or remnant (fragmented but unregulated) riverscapes. Our review reveals that blue sucker populations might persist (1) in remnant river fragments where local habitat conditions are appropriate and (2) where effects of habitat fragmentation and flow regulation are not coupled.