Length-Weight Relationships for 44 Central Appalachian Fish Species

. Species-specifc length-weight relationships can inform researchers and managers about the growth patterns and health of fsh populations. Few length-weight relationships exist for Appalachian stream fsh species despite the high amount of biodiversity within the region. Te main purpose of our study was to determine the length-weight relationships for stream fsh species found in Central Appalachia. We sampled 16 streams and captured over 14,000 individual fsh among 44 species. We identifed each fsh to species and recorded total length (mm) and weight (g) for each individual. Tese data were log 10 transformed and analyzed using linear regression to calculate the length-weight parameters for each species. Relationships were calculated for 44 diferent stream fsh species. Searches in FishBase.org revealed that of the 44 species in our data, 9 species have no current data in FishBase.org (Froese and Pauly, 2016), while 20 others have no previous representation from Central Appalachia. Te relationships obtained in this study are some of the frst published for these species in this region. Availability of species-and region-specifc data on length-weight relationships could help inform future research and management of these species.


Introduction
Te Appalachian region is a well-known hub of biodiversity for many taxa.Elevation and temperature gradients, along with isolation, throughout the region have contributed to the high degree of speciation [1].Amphibian, reptile, and fsh species found in the region are especially diverse and are a vital part of the native ecosystem.Despite the high diversity and importance of these communities, published information for Appalachian fsh, particularly nongame species, is often lacking.
Length-weight relationships (LWRs) are a valuable tool that can be used to provide more information about the diverse fsh communities in Central Appalachia.Tese relationships can be used to calculate and explore components of population dynamics such as growth patterns, body condition, biomass estimates, responses to habitat conditions, and life history [2][3][4].
Despite global importance of LWRs to inform fsh ecology and management, these relationships have been mostly applied in fsheries research with a focus on game species [5], with very little information existent for nongame Appalachian stream fsh species [6].Te goal of this study was to expand the number of species in Appalachia with published LWRs.Here, we derived LWRs for 44 fsh species based on collections of 14,000 individuals across species.Te LWRs contained within this publication provide valuable information on these Appalachian species and can aid in future research and management.

Methods
We collected fsh from 15 West Virginia streams (Figure 1) with high-frequency (∼60 Hz) DC electrofshing utilizing ETS ABP-4 backpack electroshockers, a tow barge electrofshing unit (ETS model SDC-1), and dip nets with 4.7 mm mesh.Fish were sampled within approximately 200 m (range � 100-299 m) stream reaches while moving upstream.Stunned fsh were netted and placed in livewells for further processing.Upon completing a sample collection, fsh were identifed to species, weighed to the nearest hundredth of a gram, and total length was measured to the nearest millimeter.Processed fsh ≥100 mm total length were released alive, while individuals <100 mm total length were preserved in 10% formalin for laboratory processing.
In the laboratory, preserved fsh were identifed to species.We did not include specimens under 32 millimeters in length in the dataset due to inadequate sampling efciency toward the goals of a companion project.As was done for larger fsh in the feld, the total length of each retained specimen was measured to the nearest millimeter and wet weighed to the nearest hundredth of a gram (Table 1).We included only species that passed the following criteria: (1) had length and weight measurements for at least 10 individuals, (2) had relatively even distribution of individuals among sizes (no severely clumped or nonrepresentative distributions), and (3) was not suspected of being a hybrid, resulting in 44 species that met these requirements.All morphometric data were entered into Microsoft Excel, and SAS v9.4 was used for analyses.
All lengths and weights were log 10 transformed.Te length (log)−weight (log) relationship in a linear regression will be as follows: log 10 (W) � log 10 (a) + b log 10 (L).We plotted log 10 wet weight (g) against log 10 length (cm) for each species to visually inspect relationships and assess outliers.Te resulting linear regression parameters were used to estimate the values of the length and weight equation W � a • L b [2,5].Te value a is the antilogarithm of the y intercept, and the b value is the slope from the linear regression.Te minimum and maximum length values were also recorded (cm).

Results
We provide LWRs for 44 species representing 11 families (Table 2).Although there were other species in this dataset, they were not included due to low sample size (n < 10), clumped distributions, or presence of suspected hybridization.Of the 44 species included, 9 of them had no existing LWR records available in FishBase.org[6] and another 20 species did have LWRs but had no representation from Central Appalachia (including the U.S. states of West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, and North Carolina).We reference the availability of LWRs in 2 Journal of Applied Ichthyology FishBase.orgnot intending it in an inclusive way, but rather as an index of relative availability, other data may be available for these species outside of the FishBase.org[6] database.

Discussion
Te LWRs provided by this study can inform future research and management of the studied species as well as potentially provide more accurate length-weight information for Central Appalachian fshes.LWRs can vary throughout the year as fsh weight fuctuates because of reproduction and spawning seasons, and this study was limited to just the summer season and the condition the species were in at the time of collection.Tere is a potential for continuing research using these results to assess site-specifc variation in relative weight (W r ) for species of interest.Site-specifc variation in W r could arise, for example, from environmental conditions and/or food web community dynamics.Future studies could rely on LWRs and W r as a tool to investigate efects of natural gradients and anthropogenic stressors such as acid mine drainage and invasive species which have been shown to afect stream and river ecology in our study region [7,8].Te development of robust LWRs is the frst step in developing such studies.
Increasing our knowledge of native species is becoming increasingly important in the Appalachian region, as emerging issues such as artifcial range expansion and freshwater drum contained in this dataset, are frequently targeted, and populations may face risks from these activities, given limited regulations [10].LWRs provided here can help to understand how invasive species and some angling practices may alter growth and body condition patterns of populations throughout the region.

Data Availability
Te length-weight relationship data used to support the fndings of this study are included within the article.Te superscript * after the common name indicates the 9 species that at the time of publication did not have any LWR data in FishBase.org,while the superscript 1 indicates the 29 species that had no LWR data from the Central Appalachia region.

Table 1 :
Numbers of samples and length and weight descriptive statistics for 44 fsh species from Central Appalachia.
[10]eostoma osburni) populations, an endangered fsh native only to a small part of West Virginia and Virginia[9].Additionally, harvest of nongame fshes via several available techniques (i.e., rod and reel, bow fshing, snagging, and gigging) is common in Appalachian waterways, but regulations are often limited for these species[10].Nongame native fshes, like longnose gar, sucker species (Catostomidae), and

Table 2 :
Length-weight relationships (LWRs) for 44 fsh species from Central Appalachia.Values for a and b (length-weight relationship parameters) are provided, as well as 95% confdence intervals for a and b and the R squared coefcient of determination in the log-log LWR.