Swamp darter

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Swamp darter
Etheostoma fusiforme.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Perciformes
Family: Percidae
Genus: Etheostoma
Species:
E. fusiforme
Binomial name
Etheostoma fusiforme
(Girard, 1854)
Synonyms [2]
  • Boleosoma fusiformeGirard, 1854
  • Etheostoma barratti(Holbrook, 1855)
  • Boleosoma barrattiHolbrook, 1855

The swamp darter (Etheostoma fusiforme) 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.

Contents

Description

This species can reach a length of 5.9 cm (2.3 in), though most are only about 4 cm (1.6 in). [2] It has a narrow, laterally compressed body with a rounded head and a blunt, conical snout which does not extend past the upper lips. The lateral line curves slightly upwards towards the tail. In color they are green to tan dorsally with small dark saddles and dark green and brown mottling. There are 10-12 square-shaped markings on the flanks. The underparts are white to yellow with numerous black and brown speckles. There is a narrow suborbital bar and 3 dusky black spots on the caudal fin. [3] The rays in the fins are marked with small spots and the spiny part of the male's dorsal fin normally has a dark band at its base and another dark submarginal band. When breeding, the males become darker and tubercles develop on the soft rays of the pelvic and anal fins, the spine in the pelvic fin and frequently grow on the second spine of the anal fin. [4]

Distribution

The swamp darter has a wide distribution in the lowlands of the eastern United States, it is generally found below the fall line on the Atlantic and Gulf coastal plains from southern Maine to the Sabine River, Louisiana and the Red River of the South in southeastern Oklahoma. It is also found in the tributaries of the Mississippi River as far north as Kentucky and southeastern Missouri. An introduced swamp darter population is established in the French Broad River system in North Carolina. [5] In New York State the swamp darter only occurs in the Peconic River and in a small number of ponds in the vicinity of that river in eastern Long Island, [6] the swamp darter also extends up the Red River of the South drainage as far as North Texas and Southeastern Oklahoma, where it is rare. [7] No other darter is found as far south as E. fusiforme. [8]

Habitat and biology

The swamp darter is found in slow moving and still waters, like ditches and oxbow lakes, which are typical of low-lying coastal plains. It seems to show a preference for clearer water areas where there is more vegetation than the sympatric slough darter (Etheostoma gracile). [4] They can be found in flowing water but prefer still water including backwaters and ponds, including beaver dams. They are normally found in dark acidic waters but can thrive in clearwater if sufficient cover is available. [8]

Swamp darters feed on fly larvae, amphipods, and other small crustaceans and insects. [9] [10] [11] Swamp darters tend to be an important element in the diets of young chain pickerel and young largemouth bass, where the species coexist. [12]

Spawning is thought to occur in May in New Jersey; elsewhere, breeding individuals have been collected in March, April, and May. [13] Swamp darters are not bashful about spawning. [14] They typically spawn in the same habitats where they are found. The male approaches a female from the rear, mounts her, and beats her with his pelvic fins. The female then leads the male into aquatic plants, where the eggs are deposited singly on leaves. No parental care of the eggs has been observed, and no information regarding the number of males with which females spawn and vice versa. No fighting or display of territoriality is typically observed. [14] [13] For many populations of the swamp darter, maximum longevity is only one year, [3] with very few individuals surviving two years. [4]

Conservation

The swamp darter has suffered local declines and extinctions due to alteration of its habitats by humans, urbanisation and agricultural works such as canalization, drainage, pollution and siltation have reduced the available habitat. [4] It is localized and uncommon on the margins of its range, for example it is classified as endangered in Missouri. [15] Overall its wide range, large population size, large number of populations and overall stability of numbers has led the IUCN to classify the swamp darter as Least Concern. [1]

Taxonomy and etymology

The swamp darter was first formally described in 1854 as Boleosoma fusiforme by the French biologist Charles Frédéric Girard (1822-1895) with the type locality given as a tributary of Charles River at Framingham, Massachusetts. [16] It has been placed in the subgenus Hololepsis or in the larger Boleichthys. [4] There are two recognised subspecies, although many have been proposed in the past: [8]

The specific name means "spindle shaped" or tapering at each end. [4]

Related Research Articles

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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.

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

The speckled 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 central and southeastern United States. It occurs in the Mississippi River basin and through the Gulf Coast drainages. It is also found in the Clinch River and the Powell River. This species inhabits rocky or sandy pools in flowing waters up to the size of medium rivers with fast currents. It can reach a length of 6.1 centimetres (2.4 in) TL though most only reach about 4 centimetres (1.6 in).

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

The Cherokee darter is a rare 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 Georgia in the United States, where it is limited to the Etowah River system. It inhabits creeks with rocky bottoms and little silt, typically occurring just above and below riffles. It is a whitish or yellowish fish with green and black spots on the flanks and eight dark saddle-like bars dorsally. It has a small range and its habitat is being degraded and fragmented, and the International Union for Conservation of Nature has assessed its conservation status as being endangered.

References

  1. 1 2 NatureServe (2013). "Etheostoma fusiforme". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2013: e.T202486A2745254. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2013-1.RLTS.T202486A2745254.en . Retrieved 19 November 2021.
  2. 1 2 Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.) (2019). "Etheostoma fusiforme" in FishBase. December 2019 version.
  3. 1 2 "Etheostoma fusiform swamp darter". Fishes of Texas. Texas State University. Retrieved 4 October 2020.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Etnier, D. A.; W. C. Starnes (1993). The Fishes of Tennessee. Knoxville, Tennessee: University of Tennessee Press. pp. 493–495. ISBN   0-87049-711-1.
  5. ↑ Pam Fuller; Matt Neilson (1 August 2011). "Etheostoma fusiforme (Girard, 1854)". Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Database. U.S. Geological Survey, Gainesville, FL. Retrieved 4 October 2020.
  6. ↑ "Swamp darter factsheet". New York State Department for Environmental Conservation. Retrieved 4 October 2020.
  7. ↑ Robinson, H. W.; G.A. Moore & R.J Miller (1974). "Threatened fishes of Oklahoma". Proceedings of the Oklahoma Academy of Sciences. 54: 139–146.
  8. 1 2 3 Robert E. Schmidt (1983). "The Swamp Darter". NANFA. Retrieved 4 October 2020.
  9. ↑ McLane, W. M. (1950). "Notes on the food of the largemouth black bass, Micropterus salmoides floridanus (Le Sueur), in a Florida lake". Quarterly Journal of the Florida Academy of Sciences. 12 (1949): 195–201.
  10. ↑ Flemer, D. A. & W. S. Woolcott (1966). "Food habits and distribution of the fishes of Tuckahoe Creek, Virginia, with special emphasis on the blugill, Lepomis m. macrochirus Rafinesque". Chesapeake Science. 7: 75–89. doi:10.2307/1351127. JSTOR   1351127.
  11. ↑ Schmidt, R.E. & W.R. Whitworth (1979). "Distribution and habitat of the swamp darter (Etheostoma fusiforme) in southern New England". American Midland Naturalist. 102 (2): 408–413. doi:10.2307/2424674. JSTOR   2424674.
  12. ↑ Smith, H. M. (1907). "The fishes of North Carolina". N. C. Geological and Economic Survey, Vol. 2. Uzzell & Co., Raleigh.
  13. 1 2 Collette, B.B. (1962). "The swamp darters of the subgenus Hololepis (Pisces, Percidae)". Tulane Studies in Zoology. 9 (4): 115–211. doi: 10.5962/bhl.part.25183 .
  14. 1 2 Fletcher, A.M. (1976). "A rare darter-spawning". American Currents. 4 (1): 20–22.
  15. ↑ "SWAMP DARTER Etheostoma fusiforme". Missouri Department of Conservation. Retrieved 4 October 2020.
  16. ↑ Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Boleosoma fusiforme". Catalog of Fishes . California Academy of Sciences . Retrieved 4 October 2020.
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