The UMS Waterworks Class in Boneyard Creek

My friend Gary teaches a course called "Waterworks" at Urbana Middle School. In Gary's course the kids follow a curriculum of water-related science issues and field experiences. This includes an exploration of Boneyard Creek, an urban stream here in Urbana. When Gary called and asked for an assist I was delighted to help.

Check out what we found!

First of all, let's be clear that Boneyard Creek is a miserable dog of a stream. You can see one of the many "bank improvements" here on the right of this picture. Those blocks of boulders in steel mesh are actually one of the more aesthetically appealing things you'll find in Boneyard Creek. Much of the bank upstream has been encased in iron coffer dams. That's a plastic grocery bag there in the water beside my foot. Earlier this year a murdered body was recovered from the Boneyard. Many's the time I've driven over Boneyard Creek to see booms deployed in an attempt to control some chemical spill. It seems there were some pretty serious liquid waste disposal issues on the University's engineering campus. The Boneyard bore the brunt of those.

Recently the University has tried to make amends. A restoration was attempted on campus that for some reason also included a weir just upstream. Unfortunately, when the floods came (as they inevitably do), the water backed up at the weir and blew out the banks. That sediment washed downstream and filled a large pool where the University had constructed a nice veranda and expensive terraced landscaping. The ambiance there now includes litter strewn mud flats and an anaerobic stench.

Thanks for trying, University of Illinois.

So there it is. The Boneyard. A typical urban stream with a heap of problems plus riffles and pools and a grim, determined remnant of aquatic animals.

Let's meet them.




This is a longear sunfish (Lepomis megalotis). Nice. This sunfish species prefers streams over lakes and it prefers higher quality habitat. Apparently, this one is lost, but maybe not terribly so. We picked him up in a stretch of stream with reasonable habitat and overhanging trees that provided some canopy cover. I also saw smallmouth bass in the stretch where we collected this guy.

Hmmm. It seems even a miserable dog of a stream can show some encouraging signs of life.



Etheostoma blennioides. The greenside darter is named for its' blunt face that resembles a marine fish known as a "blenny". The common name comes from its' color. Those wicked leaf-green fins on this breeding male are some of my favorite colors on any fish anywhere. Boneyard Creek is full of greenside darters. Look for them among the rapids among the broken chunks of concrete and car batteries.



Creek chub, Semotilus atromaculatus, may be the single most common fish species in Illinois. With a wide mouth that can slurp up prey of many sizes, the creek chub is a tolerant foraging generalist that occurs just about everywhere. I think there are creek chub renting the apartment next door. This is a breeding male that was taken from the Boneyard on a jig hand-tied by Jim Zoreb.

Thanks, Jim!



Another very common fish species in Boneyard Creek and throughout Illinois is the central stoneroller (Campostoma anomalum). The upper lip of this species has a distinctive horseshoe shape due to a cartilaginous ridge it uses to scrape algae off rocks. That feeding behavior is the origin of their common name. Once upon a time, central stonerollers were thought to be the only obligate herbivorous fish species in North America. It turns out fish have rather loose allegiance to their feeding behaviors. Quite a few other North American fish species eat algae, and central stonerollers eat algae plus a few other things.



Catastomus commersonii, the white sucker, is the most common sucker in the state of Illinois. You can see the sucker-shaped mouth on the bottom of it's face. They use that to slurp and taste their way along the bottom, looking for delectable aquatic invertebrates.

This white sucker is rather small and immature and has an odd arrangement of scales on its' dorsal side. Maybe it has seen one chemical spill too many.



Here's a photograph of the catch from one of our seine hauls. This should give you an idea about the kinds of fish that dominate small streams in Illinois. This is a state where the minnow is king.


This is the striped shiner.

The dark raised edges of the scales on this breeding male make it easy to identify its' genus (Luxilus). To seperate the species (chrysochephalus vs cornutus) you have to see if the stripes running down the body connect behind the dorsal fin. On a striped shiner (chrysocephalus), the stripes connect.

You can see the stripes can't you? No, not the raised edges of the scales, the STRIPES...running down the length of the body. What?? You can't see them?? Are you kidding me??

Ok, yeah, I can't see them either.

Welcome to the world of minnow identification.



This picture is included to show that the rosy faced shiner (Notropis rubellus) does indeed have a slightly rosy face. That is sometimes if it's a male it has a rosy face. If it's not a breeding male, its' face won't be rosy and it will look exactly the same as an emerald shiner...which isn't green.

Are you writing this all down?

ADDENDUM: STOP THE PRESSES!! Apparently some genetic work has split rosy-faced shiner into 4 distinct species now and much of what had been called the rosy-faced shiner is now considered to be a different pre-existing Notropis precombrus. Checking the Illinois Natural History Survey data base, it does indeed appears that the "carmine shiner" is what is found in Boneyard Creek.

http://dsp-psd.pwgsc.gc.ca/Collection/CW69-14-466-2006E.pdf

Who knew minnows were so exciting.

Behold the green sunfish, Lepomis cyanellus. Destroyer of fisheries, harasser of congeners, pesky brat and denizen of nasty degraded streams across the Midwest...

...yep. The Boneyard's got 'em.



This is a female northern crayfish, Orconectes virilis.

One of the claws (chelae) has been broken. Crayfish fight with each other and with predators using their claws. It's not uncommon to see them with broken or even missing claws. This female has been carrying eggs (the dark mass of tiny spheres on its' abdomen) since winter.

Once the eggs on her abdomen have hatched she can molt, repair the damage and begin again...

We did indeed have a fun time catching aquatic animals that day. We found some pretty cool animals and saw for ourselves that this body of water is still alive and kicking. Maybe things are looking up for Boneyard Creek. More than one person has expressed amazement at the numbers and diversity of fish that already live there. The City of Urbana has additional restorations planned. Prairie Rivers Network now has a clean-up every year that coincides with the Boneyard Arts Festival. People seem to care about its' fate.

Maybe the Boneyard too can molt, repair the damage and begin again. So long, and check back with us next year when Gary's class checks up on the Boneyard again.