The blenny darter (''Etheostoma blennius'') is a species of freshwater

ray-finned fish Actinopterygii (; ), members of which are known as ray-finned fishes, is a class of bony fish. They comprise over 50% of living vertebrate species. The ray-finned fishes are so called because their fins are webs of skin supported by bony or hor ...

, a darter from the

subfamily In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end subfamily botanical names with "-oideae", and zoologi ...

Etheostomatinae Etheosomatidae is a species rich subfamily of freshwater ray-finned fish, the members of which are commonly known as the darters. The subfamily is part of the family Percidae which also includes the perches, ruffes and pikeperches. The family i ...

, part of the

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Percidae The Percidae are a family of ray-finned fish, part of the order Perciformes, which are found in fresh and brackish waters of the Northern Hemisphere. The majority are Nearctic, but there are also Palearctic species. The family contains more than ...

, which also contains the

perch Perch is a common name for fish of the genus ''Perca'', freshwater gamefish belonging to the family Percidae. The perch, of which three species occur in different geographical areas, lend their name to a large order of vertebrates: the Percif ...

es, ruffes and pikeperches. It is a poorly known species which occurs in

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

and

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

where it inhabits swift riffles.

Description

The blenny darter is a moderately-sized but rather robust darter. It has 4 dark saddle like blotches across its back, the anterior blotch being the mist distinct and these blotches becoming progressively more indistinct towards the

caudal fin Fins are distinctive anatomical features composed of bony spines or rays protruding from the body of a fish. They are covered with skin and joined together either in a webbed fashion, as seen in most bony fish, or similar to a flipper, as se ...

. The upper flanks are frequently marked with spots which are occasionally arranged in vertical bars. There is also a series of small partially fused blotches along the lateral line between the second and fourth saddle blotches. The lower flank is irregularly spotted and the belly is pale. The upper gill cover is dark and contrasts with the pale lower part and cheek. Males have some markings on the breast but females are plain. Males also have a dark margin to the spiny part of the dorsal fin which is not always present in females. The spines in the

dorsal fin A dorsal fin is a fin located on the back of most marine and freshwater vertebrates within various taxa of the animal kingdom. Many species of animals possessing dorsal fins are not particularly closely related to each other, though through conv ...

s of female are alternately dark and uncolored whereas all the spines in the males dorsal fin are colorless, the membrane in the dorsal fin being clear in females and spotted in males. The cheek, gill cover and breast are scaleless while the belly and nape are scaled. When spawning the males darken, to almost black, on the head and the fins become more intensely colored. The maximum published

total length Fish measurement is the measuring of individual fish and various parts of their anatomies. These data are used in many areas of ichthyology, including taxonomy and fisheries biology. Overall length * Standard length (SL) is the length of a fish ...

is , although around is more common.

Distribution

The blenny darter is native to the southeastern United States and is found in Alabama and Tennessee, in small to large

tributaries A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drainage b ...

of the

Tennessee River The Tennessee River is the largest tributary of the Ohio River. It is approximately long and is located in the southeastern United States in the Tennessee Valley. The river was once popularly known as the Cherokee River, among other names, ...

drainage, more specifically the Buffalo,

Duck Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfamilies, they are a form t ...

, and

Sequatchie River The Sequatchie River is a waterway that drains the Sequatchie Valley, a large valley in the Cumberland Plateau in Tennessee. It empties into the Tennessee River downstream from Chattanooga near the Tennessee-Alabama state line. Hydrography The ...

s, and White Oak Creek, Tennessee. The species has a more-limited distribution in Alabama and is restricted to Tennessee River tributaries within the Tennessee Valley of the

Highland Rim The Highland Rim is a geographic term for the area in Tennessee surrounding the Central Basin. Nashville is largely surrounded by higher terrain in all directions. Geologically, the Central Basin is a dome. The Highland Rim is a cuesta surround ...

Habitat and biology

The blenny darter's habitat is gravel and rubble riffles in creeks and small to medium rivers which have clear water. They appear to be nocturnal and collecting at night in suitable habitat has obtained many specimens. It most likely uses the riffles to spawn in too. They live for a maximum of two to three years and are sexually mature at one year. It is reproductively active throughout March and April. Mature eggs are orange and translucent. The fish are

insectivorous A robber fly eating a hoverfly An insectivore is a carnivorous animal or plant that eats insects. An alternative term is entomophage, which can also refer to the human practice of eating insects. The first vertebrate insectivores were ...

, with analyzed gut contents containing

Nematocera The Nematocera (the name means "thread-horns") are a suborder of elongated flies with thin, segmented antennae and mostly aquatic larvae. This group is paraphyletic and contains all flies but species from suborder Brachycera (the name means "sh ...

larvae A larva (; plural larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle. The ...

, more specifically

black fly A black fly or blackfly (sometimes called a buffalo gnat, turkey gnat, or white socks) is any member of the family Simuliidae of the Culicomorpha infraorder. It is related to the Ceratopogonidae, Chironomidae, and Thaumaleidae. Over 2,200 speci ...

(Simuliidae) and

midge A midge is any small fly, including species in several families of non-mosquito Nematoceran Diptera. Midges are found (seasonally or otherwise) on practically every land area outside permanently arid deserts and the frigid zones. Some mid ...

(Chironomidae) larvae. Significant numbers of

mayfly Mayflies (also known as shadflies or fishflies in Canada and the upper Midwestern United States, as Canadian soldiers in the American Great Lakes region, and as up-winged flies in the United Kingdom) are aquatic insects belonging to the ord ...

(Ephemeroptera) and caddisfly (Trichoptera) nymphs were also found.

Taxonomy and etymology

The blenny darter was first formally described in 1887 by the

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

zoologists This is a list of notable zoologists who have published names of new taxa under the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature. A * Abe – Tokiharu Abe (1911–1996) * Abeille de Perrin, Ab. – Elzéar Abeille de Perrin (1843–1910) * ...

Charles Henry Gilbert (1859-1928) and Joseph Swain (1857-1927) with the type locality given as Cox's Creek and

tributary A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drainage ...

of the Tennessee River near

Florence, Alabama Florence is a city in, and the county seat of, Lauderdale County, Alabama, United States, in the state's northwestern corner. It is situated along the Tennessee River and is home to the University of North Alabama, the oldest college in the st ...

. There are 51 morphological characteristics which were used to indicate that the Swannanoa darter (''E. swannanoa'') is the blenny darter's closest relative and ''E. swannanoa'' is in a

clade A clade (), also known as a monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that are monophyletic – that is, composed of a common ancestor and all its lineal descendants – on a phylogenetic tree. Rather than the English term, ...

called the seagreen darter group after the seagreen darter (''E. thalassinum'') There are two recognized subspecies: * ''E. b. blennius'' occurs in the Buffalo and Duck Rivers, and White Oak Creek. * ''E. b. sequatchiense'' is limited to Sequatchie River in Tennessee; intergrades between the two subspecies occur throughout their distribution in Alabama and in the Elk River of Tennessee. The generic name ''Etheostoma'' is a compound of the Greek meaning "filter or strain" and meaning "mouth" while the

specific name Specific name may refer to: * in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database In taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules: * Specific name (botany), the two-part (bino ...

''blennius'' refers to the resemblance of this species to a marine

blenny Blenny (from the Greek and , mucus, slime) is a common name for many types of fish, including several families of percomorph marine, brackish, and some freshwater fish sharing similar morphology and behaviour. Six families are considered "true ...

. The subspecific name ''sequatchiense'' means "of the Sequatchie River".

Conservation

Herbert T. Boschung and Richard L. Mayden (2004) recommend ''Etheostoma blennius'' for Special Concern status in Alabama due to its limited distribution. Much of the area in Alabama where the species occurs is proposed for a number of floodwater-retarding dams, and such structures would greatly degrade the remaining habitat.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blenny Darter Etheostoma Fish described in 1887 Taxa named by Charles Henry Gilbert