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Steamboat Rock Dam

a river restoration project

2019 Iowa River Electrofishing Results

10/31/2019

 
Prepared by Kurt Meek, Iowa DNR Fisheries Management on 10/17/2019
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In July 2019 the Iowa DNR Clear Lake Fisheries Management crew electrofished two sites on the Iowa River near the Steamboat Rock Dam.  The results of the electrofishing are reported below.  For Site 2 (below Steamboat Rock Dam) the DNR prepared length-frequency graphs of game fish sampledd.  For Site 1 (above Steamboat Rock Dam) not enough game fish were sampled to compile graphs.  

Electrofishing Results
​Site 1 (above Steamboat Rock Dam)
Sampling Location: Hardin City Access to Steamboat Rock (6.8 miles)
Sampling Date: July 18th 2019
Sampling Time: 168 minutes of electrofishing
Gage Information: Iowa River at
​Steamboat Rock Gage,
​Stage=6.18ft, Flow=492cfs

Number of Sampled Species: 18
  • Bigmouth buffalo
  • Black crappie (1)
  • Blackside darter
  • Channel catfish (2)
  • Common carp
  • Golden redhorse
  • Highfin carpsucker
  • Hornyhead chub
  • N. Hog sucker
  • Northern Pike (3)
  • Quillback
  • River carpsucker
  • Sand shiner
  • Shorthead redhorse
  • Smallmouth bass (4)
  • Silver Redhorse
  • Stone cat
  • White sucker
Site 2 (below Steamboat Rock Dam)
Sampling Location: Steamboat Rock Dam to Pine Lake State Park Access (5.6 miles)
Sampling Date: July 31st 2019
Sampling Time: 198 minutes of
electrofishing
Gage Information: Iowa River at
Steamboat Rock Gage,
​Stage=5.93ft, Flow=344cfs

Number of Sampled Species: 22
  • Banded darter
  • Bigmouth buffalo
  • Channel catfish (200)
  • Common carp
  • Flathead catfish (3)
  • Freshwater drum
  • Grass carp (4)
  • Golden redhorse
  • Highfin carpsucker
  • Hornyhead chub
  • N. Hog sucker
  • Northern Pike (5)
  • Quillback
  • River carpsucker
  • Sand shiner
  • Shorthead redhorse
  • Smallmouth bass (27)
  • Silver Redhorse
  • Slenderhead darter
  • Spotfin shiner
  • Walleye (65)
  • White sucker
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Join Us for a Public Meeting!

10/21/2019

 
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Freshwater Mussels

10/18/2019

 
Prepared by – Jennifer Kurth, Aquatic Biologist – Watershed Monitoring Coordinator, Iowa DNR
PictureMussel covered in algae
Freshwater mussels may not be as well-known as the fish species we have in Iowa, but they are an important part of a healthy river, stream, or lake. Mussels are filter-feeders. This means they eat by filtering algae, bacteria, and other organic material out of the water, like a living water-filtration system. What they can’t eat gets bound up in mucus and deposited on the bottom where it can be eaten by other animals. Depending on size, an adult mussel can filter 12 to 36 gallons of water per day! However, this filtering activity makes them vulnerable.  Mussels are sensitive to a wide array of pollutants, and are among the most sensitive groups of organisms tested for ammonia pollution. Therefore, mussels are good indicators of water quality and the health of the waterbodies in which they live. 

​In addition to helping to clean the water, mussel beds have been shown to stabilize the river bottom against the scouring effects of flowing water. Mussels also provide habitat for other aquatic organisms. It is not unusual to find mussels with algae growing on their shells (Figure 1) or insect larvae attached to the shells. Snails will actually graze on the algae growing on mussels, like cows in a pasture. Additionally, empty shells are often used by fish and crayfish as egg laying sites or hiding places

Mussels are also an important source of food for wildlife and fish species, such as muskrats, raccoons, otters, and the freshwater drum and lake sturgeon. Both muskrats and raccoons leave discarded piles of shells (middens) on the shore, which can provide information about the mussel species found in the area. While freshwater mussels were used as food by Native Americans in the past, eating them is not recommended now, both because of their precarious status in Iowa, and because, as filter feeders they accumulate any pollutants that may be present in our waters.
Recent surveys have found 12 species of mussel living in the part of the Iowa River around the Steamboat Rock Dam, including 2 species listed as threatened by the state of Iowa, indicating that there is good habitat and that the river is a healthy place for mussels.
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Elktoe (Alasmidonta marginata)
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Monkeyface (Theliderma metanevra)

​Species found near Steamboat Rock Dam:
  • mucket (Actinonaias ligamentina)
  • elktoe (Alasmidonta marginata)
  • pimpleback (Amphinaias pustulosa)
  • Wabash pigtoe (Fusconaia flava)
  • fatmucket (Lampsilis siliquoidea)
  • plain pocketbook (Lampsilis cardium)
  • white heelsplitter (Lasmigona complanata)
  • creek heelsplitter (Lasmigona compressa)—threatened
  • flutedshell (Lasmigona costata)
  • giant floater (Pyganodon grandis)
  • creeper (Strophitus undulatus)—threatened
  • monkeyface (Theliderma metanevra)

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