Noturus flavipinnis

Subgenus Rabida; closely related to N. miurus.

See Grady and LeGrande (1992) for a study of phylogenetic relationships, modes of speciation, and historical biogeography of Noturus madtom catfishes. See Lundberg (1992) for a synthesis of work on the systematic relationships of ictalurid catfishes.

Small range and area of occupancy in the upper Tennessee River drainage, Georgia (formerly), Tennessee, and Virginia; has declined as a result of impoundments and water pollution; habitat degradation remains a threat to some populations; several extant occurrences remain; reintroductions are in progress.

This species is confined to the upper Tennessee River drainage, in Georgia (historically), Tennessee, and Virginia. It was probably once widely distributed in the Tennessee River drainage, from the Chickamauga system upstream (USFWS 1983). However, the yellowfin madtom was historically known from only seven streams: South Chickamauga Creek, Catoosa County, Georgia; Clinch River, Tennessee; Hines Creek, a Clinch River tributary, Anderson County, Tennessee; North Fork Holston River, Smyth County, Virginia; Copper Creek, Scott and Russell Counties, Virginia; Powell River, Hancock County, Tennessee (and recently found in the Virginia portion of the river); and Citico Creek, Monroe County, Tennessee (USFWS 1983). Although there are no historical records from Abrams Creek, Blount County, Tennessee, Lennon and Parker (1959) reported that the brindled madtom (the name given by early collectors for the yellowfin) was collected during a reclamation project of lower Abrams Creek in 1957. Based on this observation, Dinkins and Shute (1996) and others concluded that the species once occurred in the middle and lower reaches of Abrams Creek. Four small extant populations still exist, one each in Citico Creek (about 5 stream kilometers), Copper Creek (lower 47 river kilometers plus a disjunct site about 31 kilometers upstream; Jenkins and Burkhead 1994), Clinch River (roughly at least 24 stream kilometers; Conservation Fisheries, Inc., newsletter, December 2004), and the Powell River (where recent surveys have expanded known range); most of these populations are widely separated by impoundments (see USFWS 2007).

Conservation Fisheries, Inc. (CFI), has reintroduced the species into Abrams Creek, and a population is apparently becoming reestablished (Rakes et al. 1998). Yellowfin madtoms also have been released in the Tellico River upstream from Tellico Reservoir, Monroe County, Tennessee (USFWS 2001, 2002). Early indications show that the released fishes are surviving in the Tellico River (see USFWS 2007). It will take several more years of reintroductions to ensure future success similar to the Abrams Creek reintroductions (USFWS 2007). CFI has also successfully placed yellowfin madtoms in an existing nonessential experimental population (NEP) on the North Fork Holston River, Washington County, Virginia. This site is separated from the NEP on the lower Holston River (see following information) by reservoirs, and the fish is not known from any of these reservoirs or intervening river sections. These reservoirs and river sections act as barriers to movement by the fish and assure that the North Fork Holston River population will remain geographically isolated and easily identifiable as a distinct population from the Lower Holston River population (USFWS 2007). Conservation actions also include release of this species into probable historical habitat in the free-flowing reach of the French Broad River from below Douglas Dam to its confluence with the Holston River, Knox County, Tennessee, and in the free-flowing reach of the Holston River from below Cherokee Dam to its confluence with the French Broad River (USFWS 2007). This is a nonessential experimental population (USFWS 2007). Although there are no historical records from the lower Holston River or French Broad River system, USFWS and others believe that the species once likely inhabited these river reaches.

Old records of yellowfin madtom from Lyons Creek at the Tennessee River in Tennessee may actually pertain to N. eleutherus (see Jenkins and Burkhead 1994).

Three of the seven clearly documented populations are extirpated, though reintroductions are in progress and have added at least one established occurrence (subpopulation) to the remaining four.

Major threats to this species are impoundments, chemical spills, mining, dredging, and pollution (USFWS, Virginia Field Office). Some historical populations were lost due to water impoundment and pollution. Powell River population is threatened by coal- and gravel-mining operations in and near the upper Powell River (Etnier and Starnes 1993). Citico Creek population potentially is threatened by acid contamination related to the shale chemistry in the region. Some reaches of Copper Creek, Virginia, have been impacted by heavy cutting of riparian brush and trees (Burkhead and Jenkins 1991) and by agricultural run-off (Conservation Fisheries, Inc.).