Status of the redside dace (Clinostomus elongatus) in Illinois

The redside dace Clinostomus elongatusis a small, laterally compressed cyprinid commonly found in small streams with moderate to high gradients, clear and cool water, and substrates of clean gravel, sand, or bedrock. It has been found once (2000) in Illinois, which was in the East Fork Raccoon Creek (Pecatonica River -Rock River drainage), Winnebago County. I collected fishes four times at 19 sites in the Raccoon Creek basin in Winnebago County, Illinois, and Rock County, Wisconsin,from May 2011 to October 2011. Each site was sampled for up to 2 hours using a barge electro-shocker set at 200 volts, a Smith-Root Model 12 DC backpack electrofisher, or a 3.05 m minnow seine. Although I failed to find C. elongatus in Illinois, I did collect it at 5 sites in Wisconsin, including a site <0.5 km upstream from the Illinois-Wisconsin state-line. Based on the current survey,the dace is expected to periodically occur in the Illinois portion of the Raccoon Creek basin. Because its distribution in Illinois is limited to this small watershed, the redside dace should be considered for listing in Illinois.