In 1943, Ohio ichthyologist Milton Trautman made a rare discovery in a small riffle in Big Darby Creek. While seining along the downstream edge of a small riffle, he caught two madtoms that until that day, had never been described. Today, the rare fish is known as the Scioto madtom (Noturus trautmani). In total, four specimens were found between 1943-1945, all in the same stream section of the Big Darby Creek in a series of four riffles. The area was searched extensively for a period of years in hopes of finding more of the rare madtoms, but no luck was had for over a decade.
In 1957, a glimmer of hope appeared. Specifically, it appeared in the form of 14 Scioto madtoms, all caught between September and December of that year, and in the same riffle where the discovery had been made 14 years prior. This hope was misplaced, however, as not a single Scioto madtom has been seen since, leading to the species being declared officially extinct in the early 2000’s. As Trautman says in his book, Fishes of Ohio, “Since 1924 no stream section in Ohio has been seined more assiduously and intensely than have these riffles, and few species of Ohio fishes have been more consistently sought after than this one.”
Initially, several explanations were put forth to explain the difficulty in finding more organisms. Today, it’s widely accepted that the rare catfish species known to be unique to the Scioto watershed is now extinct, likely as a result of habitat changes from a growing agricultural industry. But at the time of the Scioto madtom’s discovery and subsequent loss, water quality was at a low-point in the United States.
A lot has changed since the last sighting of Noturus trautmani, including the passing of the Clean Water Act and creation of the EPA. Water quality seems to have recovered in Ohio over the past 50 years, evidenced as recently as last week when students from Ohio Dominican University uncovered tippecanoe darters in Alum Creek. The Big Darby Creek, where the Scioto madtom once thrived and was eventually lost, now has a near-perfect QHEI rating from the state EPA. In these ways, the ghost of the Scioto madtom lives on through environmental legislation and education, saving species who otherwise may suffer a similar fate.
- Trautman, M. B. (1981). The fishes of Ohio: With illustrated keys. Columbus: Ohio State University Press.