The greenthroat darter (''Etheostoma lepidum'') 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 found in

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

, Guadalupe and

Nueces River The Nueces River is a river in the U.S. state of Texas, about long. It drains a region in central and southern Texas southeastward into the Gulf of Mexico. It is the southernmost major river in Texas northeast of the Rio Grande. ''Nueces'' ...

drainages in

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

; and in

Pecos River The Pecos River ( es, Río Pecos) originates in north-central New Mexico and flows into Texas, emptying into the Rio Grande. Its headwaters are on the eastern slope of the Sangre de Cristo mountain range in Mora County north of Pecos, New Mexico ...

system in

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...

Habitat Associations

Macrohabitat: Basically a spring-run species.Hubbs, C. 1985. Darter reproductive seasons. Copeia 1985(1):56-68. Mesohabitat: Scarce or absent from very eurythermal locations. Occurs in a variety of non-turbid stream habitats with substrates from bedrock to silt covered (Platania 1980). A typical riffle species occurring over gravel and rubble, especially when aquatic vegetation is present. It also lives in spring areas, sometimes in cool vegetated pools. Largest populations occur in vegetated rocky riffles.Hubbs, C., and K. Strawn. 1957. The effects of light and temperature on the fecundity of the greenthroat darter, ''Etheostoma lepidum''. Ecology 38:596-602. Species benthic after hatching.

Biology

Spawning season

October or November through May, with populations in stenothermal environments having a longer spawning season than those in more eurythermal environments. In the Colorado River, Texas, spawning occurs November – May; in the South Concho River, Texas, spawning occurs October – May.Hubbs, C., M.M. Stevenson, and A.E. Peden. 1968. Fecundity and egg size in two central Texas darter populations. Southwestern Naturalist 13:301-323 Hubbs (1985) reported marked drop in reproductive activity when water temperature was raised from 20 to 23 °C.

Spawning habitat

Eggs laid on vegetation,Strawn, K. 1956. A method of breeding and raising three Texas darters. Part II. Aquarium Journal 27(1):11-32. or on the underside of rocks.

Fecundity

In the South Concho River, TX, eggs averaged 1.3 mm in diameter, and increased in number with female size; average number of eggs in females examined was 74, with a range of about 15–200. In aquaria, spawning was observed at approximately 15–25 °C; over a 63-day period, a pair of ''Etheostoma lepidum'' laid 13 batches of eggs; numbers of eggs laid ranged from 47 to 109, totaling 1,115. Optimal temperature for egg production apparently 20–23 °C; a female held at this temperature range was observed to produce eggs, in the laboratory environment, over a period of at least 251 days. Egg incubation success is low above 24 degrees C.Hubbs, C., A.E. Peden, and M.M. Stevenson. 1969. The developmental rate of the greenthroat darter, ''Etheostoma lepidum''. Amer. Midl. Nat. 81:182-188. At 28 degrees C, eggs hatch in 4–5 days, and hatch in about 40 days at 9 °C. Hubbs (1985) noted that no difference in egg production could be correlated with daylength.

References

Etheostoma Fish described in 1853 Taxa named by Spencer Fullerton Baird Taxa named by Charles Frédéric Girard {{Percidae-stub