Iowa Fish Atlas

Native: Yes

State Rank: SNR

ITIS Code: 161906          

National Rank:  N5

Global Rank: G5

Modeled By: Anna Loan-Wilsey

State Range:

The mooneye is restricted to the large rivers in Iowa.  It can be found in many of the larger, interior rivers such as the Cedar, Des Moines and Upper Iowa rivers but reaches its greatest abundance in the Mississippi River (Harlan et al. 1987).  The mooneye has been documented in the Big Sioux and Missouri River but its distribution tends to spread along the southern and eastern borders of the state (Harlan et al. 1987).

Habitat Affinities:

The mooneye inhabits the clearest rivers, lakes and large reservoirs (Etnier and Starnes 1993; Pflieger 1997; Phillips et. al. 1982). It is often found in backwaters and other quiet areas (Eddy and Underhill 1974; Phillips et. al. 1982), but feeds in swift current over firm bottoms, such as dam outflows (Robison and Buchanan 1988; Smith 1979; Trautman 1981). It is a surface feeder and requires an abundant supply of small fish (Robison and Buchanan 1988; Trautman 1981). The mooneye does not tolerate excessive turbidity and high gradients (Clay 1975; Etnier and Starnes 1993; Harlan et al. 1987; Robison and Buchanan 1988).

Predictive Model(s):

Statewide Model: by 8-digit HU [Decision Tree Analysis n=19]

The distribution is based upon existing collection records.

("FLOW" = 1 AND "TEMP_CODE" = 2 AND

 (("LINKR" <= 1 AND "DSIZE_CODE" > 4) OR

  (( "LINKR" > 6 AND "LINKR" <= 7) AND "MAXELEVR" <= 1) OR

  "LINKR" > 7))

Mississippi River Model:

The distribution is based upon existing collection records and professional review.

("pool" >= 'S08' AND "pool" <= 'S20')

Missouri River Model

The distribution is based upon existing collection records and professional review.

("pool" = 'O17')

Overall Prediction:

("FLOW" = 1 AND "TEMP_CODE" = 2  AND

 (("LINKR" <= 1 AND "DSIZE_CODE" > 4) OR

(( "LINKR" > 6 AND "LINKR" <= 7) AND "MAXELEVR" <= 1) OR

 "LINKR" > 7)) OR ("pool" >= 'S08' AND "pool" <= 'S20') OR ("pool" = 'O17')

Literature Cited:

Clay, W.M.  1975.  The fishes of Kentucky.  Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources, Frankfort, Kentucky.  416 pp.

Eddy, S., and J.C. Underhill.  1974.  Northern fishes; with special reference to the upper Mississippi Valley.  University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, Minnesota.  414 pp.

Etnier, D.A., and W.E. Starnes.  1993.  The fishes of Tennessee.  University of Tennessee Press, Knoxville, Tennessee.  681 pp.

Harlan, J.R., E.B. Speaker, and J. Mayhew.  1987.  Iowa fish and fishing. Iowa Conservation Commission, Des Moines, Iowa. 323pp.

Pflieger, W.L.  1997.  The fishes of Missouri.  Missouri Department of Conservation, Jefferson City, Missouri.  372 pp.

Phillips, G.L., W.D. Schmid, and J.C. Underhill.  1982.  Fishes of the Minnesota region.  University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, Minnesota.  248 pp.

Robison, H.W., and T.M. Buchanan. 1988.  Fishes of Arkansas.  University of Arkansas Press, Fayetteville, Arkansas.  536 pp.

Smith, P.W.  1979.  The fishes of Illinois.  University of Illinois Press, Urbana, Illinois.  314 pp.

Trautman, M.B.  1981.  The fishes of Ohio.  Revised Edition.  Ohio State University Press in collaboration with the Ohio Sea Grant Program Center for Lake Erie Area Research,  Columbus, Ohio.  782 pp.

Data Sources:

Barnickol, P.G., and W.C. Starrett.  1951.  Commercial and sport fishes of the

Mississippi River between Caruthersville, Missouri, and Dubuque, Iowa.  Illinois Natural History Survey Bulletin 25(Article 5):267-347.

Black Hawk Fish Management.  2002.  Field notes and unpublished reports.  Northwest

Management District, Fisheries Bureau, Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Lake View, Iowa.

Cleary, R.E.  1956.  Summary of the cooperative exploratory fishing operations in the

Wisconsin-Illinois-Iowa sections of the Mississippi River- 1956.  Job Description Investigations Projects.  Iowa Conservation Commission, Des Moines, Iowa.

Cleary, R.E.  1958.  Summary of 1958 electro-fishing surveys in pools 9 through 19-

Mississippi River.  Project F-53-R.   Job Description Investigations Projects.  Iowa Conservation Commission, Des Moines, Iowa.

Cleary, R.E., and  J. Hlavacek.  1957.  Summary of 1957 UMRCC exploratory fishing in

pools 8 to13.  Job Description Investigations Projects.  Iowa Conservation Commission, Des Moines, Iowa.

Coker, R.E.  1929.  Keokuk dam and the fisheries of the upper Mississippi River. 

Bulletin of the Bureau of Fisheries 45:87-140.

DeCook, R., and Cleary, R.E.  1960.  Fishing gear evaluation Mississippi River - 1960.

Job Description Investigations Projects.  Iowa Conservation Commission, Des Moines, Iowa.

Decorah Fish Management.  2002.  Field notes and unpublished reports.  Northeast

Management District, Fisheries Bureau, Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Decorah, Iowa.

Fairport Fish Management and Hatchery.  2003.  Field notes and unpublished reports.

Southeast Management District, Fisheries Bureau, Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Fairport, Iowa.

Guttenberg Fish Management.  2002.  Field notes and unpublished reports.  Northeast

Management District, Fisheries Bureau, Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Guttenberg, Iowa.

Iowa Conservation Commission and Iowa Department of Natural Resources.  2002. 

Miscellaneous field notes from fish surveys, 1942, 1961, 1964, 1991.  Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Des Moines, Iowa.

Iowa Department of Natural Resources.  1995.  Long-term evaluation of channel catfish

populations in the Upper Mississippi River affected by changes in commercial harvest regulations.  F-144-R-3 1995.  Annual performance report research project segment.   Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Des Moines, Iowa.

Iowa State University Museum.  1985.  Collection of fishes catalog, 1878-1985.   Iowa

State University, Ames, Iowa.

Lake Darling Fish Management.  2002.  Field notes and unpublished reports.  Southeast

Management District, Fisheries Bureau, Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Brighton, Iowa.  

Lake MacBride Fish Management.  2002.  Field notes and unpublished reports. 

Southeast Management District, Fisheries Bureau, Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Solon, Iowa.

LGL Ecological Research Associates.  1981.  Study of fish in the main channel of the

Mississippi River between river miles 500 and 513.5.  Final Report.  Great II Fish and Wildlife Management Work Group and Department of the Army, Corps of Engineers, Rock Island, Illinois.

Long Term Resource Monitoring Program.  2002.   Pool 13 database, 1990-2001.  Upper

Midwest Environmental Science Center, Bellevue, Iowa.

Manchester Fish Management.  2002.  Field notes and unpublished reports.  Northeast

Management District, Fisheries Bureau, Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Manchester, Iowa.

Meek, S.E.  1892.  Report upon the fishes of Iowa, based upon observations and

collections mad during 1889, 1890, 1891.  Bulletin of the United States Fish Commission 10(1890):217-248.

Menzel, B.W.  1984.  Field notes: Des Moines-Skunk.  Iowa State University, Ames,

Iowa.

Menzel, B.W.  1984.  Field notes: Iowa-Cedar.  Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa.

Molamphy, T.J.  1961.  Summary of 1961 electro-fishing surveys of Iowa waters of

Mississippi River.  Job Description Investigations Projects.  Iowa Conservation Commission, Des Moines, Iowa.

Molamphy, T.J., and R.E. Cleary.  1960.  Administrative summary electro-fishing survey

of Iowa waters of Mississippi River - 1960.  Job Description Investigations Projects.  Iowa Conservation Commission, Des Moines, Iowa.

Molamphy, T.J., and R.E. Cleary.  1960.  Administrative summary of the 1960 trap-net

survey of Iowa waters of Mississippi River.  Job Description Investigations Projects.  Iowa Conservation Commission, Des Moines, Iowa.

Museum of Zoology.  2002.  Division of Fishes collection database.  University of

Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan. http://www.ummz.lsa.umich.edu/. (May, 2002)

Nord, R.C.  1967.  A compendium of fishery information on the Upper Mississippi River.

Upper Mississippi River Conservation Committee, Rock Island, Illinois.

Paragamian, V.L.  1990.  Fish populations of Iowa rivers and streams.  Technical Bulletin

No. 3.  Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Des Moines, Iowa.

Rathbun Fish Management and Hatchery.  2003.  Field notes and unpublished reports.

Southeast Management District, Fisheries Bureau, Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Moravia, Iowa.

Smith, P.W,. and A.C. Lopinot.  1966.  The 1966 survey of fishes from the mouths of

Mississippi River tributaries, Appendix B, pp.226-233, Illinois State Natural History Survey, Champaign, Illinois.

UMRCC.  1953.  Revised species list- northern section of the river.  Pages 19-32 in

Proceedings of the Ninth Annual Meeting, Upper Mississippi River Conservation Committee, Rock Island, Illinois.

UMRCC.  1964.  Proceedings of the twentieth annual meeting, January 7, 1964.  Upper

Mississippi River Conservation Committee, Rock Island, Illinois.

Van Vooren, A.  1981.  Relative utilization of Mississippi River habitats as fish nursery

areas.  Project 81-III-C-11.  Job Completion Reports.  Iowa Conservation Commission, Des Moines, Iowa.

Wenke, T.L.  1965.  Some ecological relationships of mayflies, caddisflies, and fish in

the Mississippi River near Keokuk, Iowa.  Ph.D. dissertation.  Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa.

Additional References:

Becker, G.C.  1983.  Fishes of Wisconsin.  University of Wisconsin Press, Madison. 1052 pp.

Cross, F.B., and J.T. Collins.  1995.  Fishes in Kansas.  University of Kansas Natural History Museum, Public Education Series No. 14, Lawrence, Kansas.   315 pp.

Douglas, N.H.  1974.  Freshwater fishes of Louisiana.  Claitor’s Publishing Division, Sponsored by Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission, Baton Rouge, Louisiana.  443 pp.

Kelly, G., editor.  1986.  Animal habitat relations handbook.  Missouri Department of Conservation and U.S.D.A. Forest Service, Jefferson City, Missouri.  293 pp.

Lee, D.S., C.R. Gilbert, C.H. Hocutt, R.E. Jenkins, D.E. McAllister, and J.R. Stauffer, Jr.  1980.  Atlas of North American freshwater fishes.  North Carolina State Museum of Natural History, Raleigh, North Carolina.  867 pp.

Muncy, R J., G. J. Atchison, R.V. Bulkley, B.W. Menzel, L.G. Perry, and R.C. Summerfelt.  1979.  Effects of suspended solids and sediments on reproduction and early life of warmwater fish: a review.  U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Corvallis, Oregon.  101 pp.

Page, L.M., and B.M. Burr.  1991.  A field guide to freshwater fishes: North America north of Mexico.  Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, Massachusetts. 432 pp.

Pflieger, W.L.  1971.  A distributional study of Missouri fishes.  University of Kansas Publications, Museum of Natural History  20(3):225-570.

Pflieger, W.L.  1989a.  Aquatic community classification system for Missouri.  Missouri Department of Conservation.  Jefferson City, Missouri.  Aquatic Series No. 19. 70 pp. plus Supplement.

Pflieger, W.L.  1989b.  The stream resources of Missouri.  D-J Project - F-1-R-28.  Study S-20.  Missouri Department of Conservation, Columbia, Missouri.  

Robins, C.R., R.M. Bailey, C.E. Bond, J.R. Brooker, E.A. Lachner, R.N. Lea, and W.B. Scott.  1991.  Common and scientific names of fishes from the United States and Canada.  American Fisheries Society, Special Publication 20, Bethesda, Maryland. 183 pp.

Scott, W.B., and E. J. Crossman.  1973.  Freshwater fishes of Canada.  Fisheries Research Board of Canada Bulletin No. 184, Ottawa, Canada.  966 pp.

Sheehan, R.J., W.M. Lewis, and  L.R. Bodensteiner.  1990.  Winter habitat requirements and overwintering of riverine fishes.  Southern Illinois Fisheries Research Laboratory, Carbondale, Illinois.  D-J Project F-79-R, Study 101.  234 pp.

Thom, R.H., and J.H. Wilson.  1980.  The natural divisions of Missouri.  Transactions of the Missouri Academy of Science  14:9-24.

Tibbs, J.E.  1995.  Habitat use by small fishes in the lower Mississippi River related to foraging by least terns, Sterna altillarum.  Master’s thesis, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri.  184 pp.

Wallus, R., and J.P. Buchanan.  1989.  Contributions to the reproductive biology and early life ecology of mooneye in the Tennessee and Cumberland rivers.   American Midland Naturalist 122:204-207.

Photo Credits:

Upper Left:       Photo courtesy of the Missouri Department of Conservation, Missouri Fish and Wildlife Information System, http://www.conservation.state.mo.us.

Upper Right:     Photo courtesy of William L. Pflieger, Missouri Department of Conservation, http://www.conservation.state.mo.us.