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Spatial Assessment Of Slender Madtom (Noturus Exilis) Diets Within The Illinois Bayou, Brendon K. Mitchell

ATU Research Symposium

The Slender Madtom (Noturus exilis) is a common species with a widespread distribution across the Mississippi River basin. In Arkansas, they can be found in upland rivers/streams in the Arkansas River and White River watershed. Very little data has been collected on the diet of this species and how it varies. We wanted to spatially assess the diet of Slender Madtoms. Slender Madtoms were sampled from 8 sites in the Illinois Bayou watershed using seines and kick nets. Small-scale gastric lavage was used to extract diet data from all individuals. All prey items were preserved and identified to the genus …