Golden darter

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Golden darter
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Perciformes
Family: Percidae
Genus: Etheostoma
Species:
E. denoncourti
Binomial name
Etheostoma denoncourti

The golden darter (Etheostoma denoncourti) is a species of freshwater ray-finned fish, a darter from the subfamily Etheostomatinae, part of the family Percidae, which also contains the perches, ruffes and pikeperches. It is found in the upper Tennessee River, [2] one of the over 300 fish species found in Tennessee. [3]

Contents

Identification

This species is similar to the Tippecanoe darter but has scales on cheek behind the eye, 2nd dorsal under the 1st dorsal fin. [4] The golden darter has a gold margin to the 1st dorsal fin and the body is orange in color marked with vertical dark bars towards the tail. [5]

Range

The golden darter is extremely localized. It can be found in the Tennessee River drainage, Virginia, and Tennessee. [4] The species occurs in not more than 10 locations, and habitat quality is subject to ongoing declines. This darter is restricted to the Tennessee River drainage in Tennessee and Virginia. It has been collected from Copper Creek and the Clinch, Sequatchie, Duck, and Buffalo rivers. [1]

Habitat and biology

The golden darter prefers shallow gravel riffles in small to medium-sized rivers. It is thought to be a species in which the eggs are buried in the substrate. [1]

Taxonomy and etymology

The golden darter was first formally described in 1997 by Jay Richard Stauffer, Jr. and Ellen S. van Snik Gray with the type locality given as Copper Creek, 180-460 meters upstream from its mouth on Virginia State Route 627, 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) south of Clinchport, Virginia. [6] Previously these fish were considered to be the upper Tennessee River population of the Tippecanoe darter (E. tippiecanoe) but were found to differ in meristics and coloration. [7] The specific name honours Robert F. Denoncourt who introduced Stauffer to the "diversity and complexity of the stream fishes in the southern Appalachian drainage". [8]

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Teardrop darter</span> Species of fish

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Swannanoa darter</span> Species of fish

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The Tippecanoe darter is a species of freshwater ray-finned fish, a darter from the subfamily Etheostomatinae, part of the family Percidae, which also contains the perches, ruffes and pikeperches. It is endemic to the eastern United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gilt darter</span> Species of fish

The gilt darter is a species of freshwater ray-finned fish, a darter from the subfamily Etheostomatinae, part of the family Percidae, which also contains the perches, ruffes and pikeperches. It can be found in a number of states in the Mississippi River drainage of the United States although it has been extirpated from some river systems in which it was at one time present, mostly due to siltation and pollution problems. Males are more colorful than females and can grow to a length of about 9 cm (3.5 in). It is a benthic fish that feeds primarily on small aquatic insect larvae. Males form territories during the breeding season in late spring and early summer. Spawning typically takes place at the upper ends of riffles with sandy and gravelly bottoms interspersed with larger cobbles. Some organisations are endeavouring to conserve populations of the gilt darter and re-introduce it to states where the fish has been extirpated but suitable habitat still exists.

The sickle darter is a recently identified freshwater ray-finned fish, a darter from the subfamily Etheostomatinae, part of the family Percidae, which also contains the perches, ruffes and pikeperches. It is closely related to a well-known darter, Percina macrocephala. Discovered in 2007 in the upper Tennessee River drainage, the sickle darter is around 90.5 mm (3.56 in) in length and is a slender bodied, freshwater and benthopelagic fish that most likely feeds on small crayfish and mayflies, since it shares a large mouth and long snout with its sister species. The known distribution of the sickle darter is the upper drainage of the Tennessee River of Tennessee, North Carolina and Virginia. It is distinguished from all other Percina darters except its sister species P. macrocephala by a dark suborbital bar and a black bar subtending a medial black spot on the base of the caudal fin. It stays in mostly rocky, sandy, or silty substrates in clear creeks or small rivers in the Appalachian Mountains. The sickle darter spawns in late winter in gravel shoals. It also has large scales which make it different from macrocephala. It is known to be extirpated from most of its home habitat mainly because of agricultural practices that cause siltation and turbidity which causes most populations of the sickle darter to be widely scattered. But where it is found, it can be observed with regularity. Taking all this into consideration, the sickle darter does not have a formal conservation status under any federal or state law although its closely related species is considered a species of concern by the TWRA. Future management plans should include finding more locations of the sickle darter and decreasing further habitat destruction in known distributions by stating it as a fish of concern by state law.

<i>Nothonotus</i> Genus of fishes

Nothonotus is a genus or subgenus of freshwater ray-finned fish, a darter from the subfamily Etheostomatinae, part of the family Percidae, which also contains the perches, ruffes and pikeperches. It is endemic to the southeastern United States. First proposed as a sub-genus of Etheostoma in 1988, there is still debate regarding the appropriate taxonomic rank of Nothonotus in the literature. Darter species comprise more than 180 of the Percidae taxa.

References

  1. 1 2 3 NatureServe (2013). "Etheostoma denoncourti". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2013: e.T202473A2745163. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2013-1.RLTS.T202473A2745163.en . Retrieved 20 November 2021.
  2. Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.) (2019). "Etheostoma denoncourti" in FishBase . December 2019 version.
  3. David A. Etnier & Wayne C. Starnes (1993). The Fishes of Tennessee. The University of Tennessee Press Knoxville. ISBN   0-87049-711-1.
  4. 1 2 Page, Lawrence; Burr, Brooks (2011). Peterson Field Guide to Freshwater Fishes, Second Edition. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. p. 553. ISBN   0547242069..
  5. "Golden Darter (Etheostoma denoncourti)". Tennessee Aquarium. Retrieved 30 September 2020.
  6. Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Etheostoma denoncourti". Catalog of Fishes . California Academy of Sciences . Retrieved 30 September 2020.
  7. Christopher E. Skelton & David A. Etnier (2000). "Taxonomic Status of Etheostoma denoncourti Stauffer and van Snik". Copeia. 2000 (4): 1097–1103.
  8. Jay Richard Stauffer, Jr.; Ellen S. van Snik Gray (1997). "New Species of Etheostoma (Teleostei: Percidae) from the Upper Tennessee River". Copeia. 1997 (1): 116–112. doi:10.2307/1447846.