Nest-building chubs are important ecosystem engineers over 30 other species of fish are known to deposit their eggs in chub nests. Yellowfin Madtom, If you visit in the spring, you might get to witness the river chub, diligently building a nest out of pebbles, hoping to attract a mate with his architectural feat. On a good day you’d be likely to spot several species of darters and shiners small, vibrantly colored fish that prefer clear waters flowing over gravel beds, and hunt for mayflies or other small aquatic insects. Unique, beautiful and sometimes bizarre critters are everywhere you turn, hiding in rock crevices, basking in shallow eddies, or furiously fighting the midstream current. It’s a whole different world down there, fast-moving and turbulent, unbelievably full of life. To do that, you need to peek below the surface. But most of the folks who visit the Little T Basin to hike, bike, kayak, camp, or even fish for bass and trout, leave without ever glimpsing its greatest treasure. Spend just one day on the Little T and you’ll know it’s a truly special place. Experts believe that some river reaches within the basin still hold the same array of species that they did before the arrival of the first European settlers. With more than 100 species of native fish, 10 native mussels and a dozen native crayfish, the basin has been designated a global biological hotspot. On this journey, it is joined by many tributaries large and small, and together they comprise the Little T River Basin. From there it snakes another 125 miles southwest before it crosses into Tennessee, where it joins the Tennessee River. With headwaters in north Georgia, the “Little T” flows north for seven miles before crossing into North Carolina. One of the jewels in this crown of biodiversity is the Little Tennessee River Basin. A unique combination of highly varied topography, a relatively stable climate, and refugia for species during periods of glaciation have come together to make the Southern Appalachian mountains the perfect home for hundreds of species of fish, mussels, crayfish, aquatic insects and more. The hundreds of spring-fed rivers that crisscross this mountainous region are home to one of the most diverse arrays of aquatic species found anywhere in the temperate world. The Little Tennessee River Basin is a treasure trove of aquatic biodiversity, and a novel partnership has come together to help ensure it stays that way.īeneath their roaring rapids and shimmering surfaces, the streams of Southern Appalachia hide a little-known treasure.

Sunken Treasure by Wil Wheaton