[The authors] conducted a sampling study to compare the use and abundance of larval fishes in three ephemeral floodplain habitats (flooded forests, flooded agricultural fields, and permanent backwater channels) at three locations along the Tallahatchie River, Mississippi. Sampling was conducted using light traps during the peak of larval fish abundance in the spring, 1991. Four taxa, Dorosoma cepedianum, Cyprinus carpio, Ictiobus spp., and Lepomis spp. comprised over 85% of the overall catch of 5965 specimens. The total abundance of the four species differed substantially among the three locations; however, relative abundance in forest, field and channel habitats was the same for all locations. Abundance was highest in field habitats and, with one exception, lowest in backwater channels. Interactions among flow, temperature and relative water depth accounted for some of the variation in fish abundance between locations but not between habitat types within locations. The study suggests the importance of both habitat type and geographic location to larval fish abundance.
