Iowa DNR
BioNet
River & Stream Biological Monitoring
Fish and Benthic Macroinvertebrate Surveys
Physical Habitat Assessments

Bluebell Creek Millville

Fish Session #2432

Sample Date
9/11/2024
Timeframe
0900-1500  
Reach Size
1500 ft
Method
Standard Wadeable
Sample Quality
Good
Last Update
1/14/2025 9:05:04 AM

Fish Health

# DELTs
0
# Non-DELTs
0

Equipment

Backpack Shockers
1
Blocknets
0
Notice: This sampling session has not been through a Quality Assurance check and may contain errors. This notice will be removed once the QA has been completed.
Property Access Notice

This site is on privately-owned land. The DNR obtains permission from the landowner(s) prior to conducting any sampling surveys.

FIBI Score
63
Warm Water
Good
Session Comments

Kirby, Winn & Dolan. Three sites sampled: 1, 2 & 5 for a total of 1500 feet. Private property

Collected Fish

Identity verification status for this species
Size Class: Typically only collected for sportfish
Taxa excluded from species count metrics.
Click on species name for more information about that species
Species Catch
Central Stoneroller
Latin: Campostoma anomalum
Family: Leuciscidae
Tolerance: Intermediate
Trophic: Herbivore
Is Exotic: False
Is LithoSpawner: False
Is Hybrid: False
731
Fantail Darter
Latin: Etheostoma flabellare
Family: Percidae
Tolerance: Intermediate
Trophic: Benthic Invertivore
Is Exotic: False
Is LithoSpawner: False
Is Hybrid: False
413
Western Blacknose Dace
Latin: Rhinichthys obtusus
Family: Leuciscidae
Tolerance: Intermediate
Trophic: Insectivore
Is Exotic: False
Is LithoSpawner: False
Is Hybrid: False
113
Creek Chub
Latin: Semotilus atromaculatus
Family: Leuciscidae
Tolerance: Tolerant
Trophic: Generalist
Is Exotic: False
Is LithoSpawner: False
Is Hybrid: False
92
Johnny Darter
Latin: Etheostoma nigrum
Family: Percidae
Tolerance: Intermediate
Trophic: Benthic Invertivore
Is Exotic: False
Is LithoSpawner: False
Is Hybrid: False
37
Longnose Dace
Latin: Rhinichthys cataractae
Family: Leuciscidae
Tolerance: Sensitive
Trophic: Benthic Invertivore
Is Exotic: False
Is LithoSpawner: False
Is Hybrid: False
18
White Sucker
Latin: Catostomus commersonii
Family: Catostomidae
Tolerance: Intermediate
Trophic: Omnivore
Is Exotic: False
Is LithoSpawner: False
Is Hybrid: False
5
Southern Redbelly Dace
Latin: Chrosomus erythrogaster
Family: Leuciscidae
Tolerance: Sensitive
Trophic: Herbivore
Is Exotic: False
Is LithoSpawner: False
Is Hybrid: False
2
Brown Trout
Latin: Salmo trutta
Family: Salmonidae
Tolerance: Sensitive
Trophic: Top Carnivore
Is Exotic: True
Is LithoSpawner: False
Is Hybrid: False
1
Bigmouth Shiner
Latin: Ericymba dorsalis
Family: Leuciscidae
Tolerance: Tolerant
Trophic: Insectivore
Is Exotic: False
Is LithoSpawner: False
Is Hybrid: False
1

FIBI Calculation Factors

Factor Value
Drainage area (mi2) 5.7450
Log(DA) 0.7593
Total Fish 1413
Fish per 500 ft 471
Total Species 10
# Excluded Taxa 0
# Exotic Species 1
# LMB-BG 0
Calculation Last Updated 2/7/2025 2:34:31 PM

Fish Index of Biotic Integrity

Metric Name Value Score
Native Species 9 7.11
Sucker Species 1 4.04
Sensitive Species 3 6.92
Benthic Invertivore Species 3 6.59
Top 3 Abundance Percentage 88.96 3.73
Benthic Invertivore Percentage 33.12 10
Omnivore Percentage 0.35 10
Top Carnivore Percentage 0.07 4.22
Lithophilous Spawner Percentage 0 0
Tolerance Index 5.25 7.54
Adjusted Catch per Unit Effort 87.93 8.79
DELT Percentage Adjustment 0 0

FIBI Score Explained

Sites that score between 51 - 70 are considered good. Fish (excluding tolerant species) are fairly abundant to very abundant. If high numbers are present, intermediately tolerant species or tolerant species are usually dominant. A moderately high number of fish species belonging to several families are present. The three most abundant fish species typically comprise two-thirds or less of the total number of fish. Several long-lived species and benthic invertivore species are present. One or more sensitive species are usually present. Top carnivore species are usually present in low numbers and often one or more life stages are missing. Species that require silt-free, rock substrate for spawning or feeding are present in low proportion to the total number of fish. Fish condition is good; typically less than 1% of the total number of fish exhibits external anomalies associated with disease or stress.

This location has been classified as a Candidate Reference Site. Further study is required to determine if this site represents natural stream qualities that are least disturbed by human activities within the watershed.

EcoRegion Comparison

Scores for a sampling session are compared against reference sites within the same ecoregion:

Paleozoic Plateau (Driftless Area)

This site is in the Paleozoic Plateau (Driftless Area) ecoregion.

Ecoregion Map
Max 91
75th Percentile 63
Median 54
25th Percentile 47
Min 9
This Session's Score 63
Total Reference Site Samples 114
Mean 55.61
Standard Deviation 16.18