Percina shumardi

Last updated

River darter
Status TNC G5.svg
Secure  (NatureServe) [2]
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Perciformes
Family: Percidae
Genus: Percina
Species:
P. shumardi
Binomial name
Percina shumardi
(Girard, 1859)
Synonyms [3]

Hadropterus shumardiGirard, 1859

Percina shumardi (river darter) is a benthic 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 native to North America. It is an inhabitant of small and medium rivers where it occurs in rocky riffles with clear, fast-flowing water. The river darter can reach up to 7.3 cm (2.9 in) in length and has an average lifespan of three years. It can be distinguished from other darters by its unique front and rear spots on the dorsal fin.

Contents

Geographic distribution

The river darter is a species native only to the United States and Canada. Within Canada, the river darter is native to southern regions including the Hudson Bay basin, Ontario, and Manitoba. Within the United States, the river darter is native to a band that starts northward in Canada and extends into Minnesota and North Dakota and continues to the Gulf drainages in Alabama and Texas. [2] The river darter is the most common species of darter in the Mississippi River Channel. [4]

Description

Darters are characterized by two dorsal fins and dorsal scutes, a line of modified scales along the midline of the body. They have two anal spins and a complete lateral line. Darters have a moderately pointed snout and a subterminal mouth. River darters are olive brown with distinct dorsal blotching and a mottled back. The dorsal blotches form 8-15 faint bars along the body that become more discernibly ovular towards the tail. A distinctive bar can be seen below the eye. The dorsal fins are clear with light banding. Nuptial males have a bright, golden band in the posterior region of the first, spiny dorsal fin. [5] The second dorsal fin has up to 16 soft rays. The anal fin has 11 rays. [6] Males are darker and more distinctly marked during spawning season, but do not develop bright colors like many other darters. Tubercles develop on the caudal, pelvic and anal fins, and occasionally also occur on the heads of males during the breeding season. [7]

Habitat

As its name implies, the river darter can be found in major rivers and at the mouths of adjoining tributaries. River darters prefer to inhabit regions with moderate to swift currents in regions around 1 metre (3 ft 3 in) deep. They inhabit chutes of oxbow rivers and riffles containing sandy, gravely, and rocky substrates. During the evening river darters migrate inshore and are commonly found along sandbars in shallower depths of around .6–.9 metres (2 ft 0 in – 2 ft 11 in). During the day they move away from the shore and are most abundant in 1.2 metres (3 ft 11 in) or more of water. [6]

Response to turbidity

The river darter relies on frictional contact with the substratum to maintain its position while minimizing its energy usage. The river darter's enlarged pectoral fins help create negative lift and increase the friction between its body and the ground to counteract turbidity. As current speed increases, the river darter, like many lotic fishes, increases its frictional contact with the river bottom by releasing gasses from its swim bladder, which increases its density and keeps it near the river bottom. [8]

Management

The abundance of the River darter in the Mississippi River and tributaries indicates that it is not extremely sensitive to turbidity and water pollution. However, the river darter does require deep swift water habitats, which are quickly disappearing with flood control and river impoundment programs. Darters are at risk to pollution due to their small sizes and benthic breeding and feeding habitats that can be heavily modified by pollution. Somewhere between one half and one third of all darter species are considered to be at risk of extinction. In order to protect the river darter, rivers need to be restored and maintained in their natural state with intact flow patterns. River darter abundance is best surveyed in the summer, when water levels are typically at their lowest. [9]

Diet

The river darter is an invertivore that primarily feeds during the day. [7] Adult individuals feed on a wide variety of all aquatic invertebrates such as midge and caddisfly larvae, which are common in streams and rivers. Snails are another fundamental aspect of the diet of mature river darters. Chironomids, trichopteras, and small crustaceans are other key elements of the adult diet of river darters. [4] Juvenile river darters typically feed on much smaller prey. Primarily food sources for juveniles include small zooplankton floating in their freshwater habitats. [7]

Lifecycle

The river darter attains much of its adult size during the first year of development, and reaches sexual maturity by the age of one. Males tend to develop faster and become larger than females. [7] The average lifespan of a river darter is between 3–4 years.

Reproduction

The river darter spawns from February to May. River darters are brood hiders; they do not guard their eggs. After they have laid their eggs they do not provide parental care. Females bury their fertilized eggs in gravel depressions in areas of slow current. These gravel depressions are called redds. River darter eggs are able to tolerate temperatures between 13–26 °C (55–79 °F). Some reports indicate upstream migration of river darters during the spring. After spawning the fish may move downstream to reach overwintering habitats. The newly hatched larvae may drift downstream as well, and as they grow the darters shift into faster water habitats of mature darters. [6]

Etymology

The river darter's scientific name comes from the Greek root word Percina or 'little perch' and the word shumardi which was given in honor of its discoverer, Dr. George C. Shumard (1823-1867), a surgeon with the United States Pacific Railroad Survey. [10] [11]

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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>Percina roanoka</i> Species of fish

Percina roanoka, the Roanoke 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 native to Virginia and North Carolina in the United States and is present in West Virginia, possibly from introduction. It is found in the Roanoke, Tar, and Neuse river systems, typically in small to medium size rivers. It is a colorful species with an average length of 4.3 centimeters (1.7 in). It feeds on insect larvae and other small invertebrates, and spawns in late May and June. It is a common fish with a very wide range and the International Union for Conservation of Nature has classified its conservation status as being of "least concern".

References

  1. ↑ NatureServe (2013). "Percina shumardi". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2013: e.T202593A18234970. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2013-1.RLTS.T202593A18234970.en . Retrieved 20 November 2021.
  2. 1 2 "Percina shumardi". NatureServe Explorer. 7.1. The Nature Conservancy . Retrieved 23 March 2024.
  3. ↑ Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.) (2019). "Percina shumardi" in FishBase. December 2019 version.
  4. 1 2 "River Darter (Percina shumardi) - FactSheet". Nas.er.usgs.gov.
  5. ↑ "River". Outdoor Alabama. 16 July 2014.
  6. 1 2 3 "river darter Percina shumardi". Txstate.fishesoftexas.org. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
  7. 1 2 3 4 "Percina shumardi : Girard : River Darter" (PDF). Mnfi.anr.msu.edu. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
  8. ↑ Ross, Stephen (2013). Ecology of North American Freshwater Fishes. University of California Press. ISBN   978-0-520-24945-5.
  9. ↑ "Percina shumardi (River darter) - MNFI Rare Species Explorer". Mnfi.anr.msu.edu.
  10. ↑ Helfman, Gene; Collette, Bruce B.; Facey, Douglas E.; Bowen, Brian W. (4 May 2009). the Diversity of Fishes: Biology, Evolution, and Ecology. Blackwell Publishing. ISBN   978-1-4051-2494-2.
  11. ↑ Christopher Scharpf & Kenneth J. Lazara (7 February 2024). "Order PERCIFORMES (part 6): Suborder PERCOIDEI: Families NIPHONIDAE, PERCIDAE and TRACHINIDAE". The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database. v. 7.0. Christopher Scharpf and Kenneth J. Lazara. Retrieved 23 March 2024.
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