The lipstick darter (''Etheostoma chuckwachatte'') 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

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

to the eastern

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, where it occurs in the

Tallapoosa River The Tallapoosa River runs U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 27, 2011 from the southern end of the Appalachian Mountains in Georgia, United States, southward and wes ...

drainage above the

Fall Line A fall line (or fall zone) is the area where an upland region and a coastal plain meet and is typically prominent where rivers cross it, with resulting rapids or waterfalls. The uplands are relatively hard crystalline basement rock, and the coa ...

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

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

. It inhabits rocky riffles of creeks and small to medium rivers.

Description

The lipstick darter is a small fish with a laterally compressed body and it attains a maximum

standard 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 m ...

of around . It has 8–9 square shaped blotches along its back and 5–6 faint vertical bars towards the tail on the flanks. Adult males have obvious red-orange colored lips and large spots along the flanks of a similar color, as well as showing orange and blue-green coloration on the

anal 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 ...

. When they are

spawning Spawn is the eggs and sperm released or deposited into water by aquatic animals. As a verb, ''to spawn'' refers to the process of releasing the eggs and sperm, and the act of both sexes is called spawning. Most aquatic animals, except for aquati ...

, the first

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 ...

of the males takes on a dusky hue and with an orange margin while the second dorsal fin has an orange band immediately below a blue marginal band. The flanks of the females are mottled brown and in some cases these are marked with indistinct vertical bars. The females may also show a narrow red band on the margin of the first dorsal fin and indistinct turquoise coloring on the chest.

Distribution

The lipstick darter is found throughout the Tallapoosa River system above the Fall Line in Alabama and Georgia in the southeastern United Statates.

Habitat and biology

Lipstick darters are found in riffles which have fast currents in larger streams and rivers, here they frequently hunt among and around gravel and cobble on the riverbed. Where flows are moderate or slow they are most commonly recorded in shallow riffles at depths of deep (5–14 in), where there is a faster current and cover is provided by submerged vegetation, pebbles or rock overhangs. Its shape enables it to squeeze between the rocks and in crevices to look for food even where there is a very fast flow. They feed by picking off the aquatic larvae of insects from the rocks or vegetation. Their prey is made up of

fly Flies are insects of the Order (biology), order Diptera, the name being derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek δι- ''di-'' "two", and πτερόν ''pteron'' "wing". Insects of this order use only a single pair of wings to fly, the hindwing ...

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 ...

, and

stonefly Plecoptera is an order of insects, commonly known as stoneflies. Some 3,500 species are described worldwide, with new species still being discovered. Stoneflies are found worldwide, except Antarctica. Stoneflies are believed to be one of the mo ...

larvae. The spawning season runs from April up to June and they bury their eggs in the gravel between the pebbles. The females have been collected with ripe eggs when the temperature of the water was in the range . Their lifespan is thought to be 2–3 years.

Taxonomy

The lipstick darter was first formally described in 1993 by Richard L. Mayden and Robert M. Wood with the type locality given as Hillabee Creek at the

Alabama State Route 22 State Route 22 (SR 22) is a state highway that extends from Safford in Dallas County to the Georgia state line near Roanoke in Randolph County. The route travels across most of the state from west to east. Route description Starti ...

, northeast of

Alexander City, Alabama Alexander City, known to locals as "Alex City", is the largest city in Tallapoosa County, Alabama, United States, with a population of 14,843 as of the 2020 census. It has been the largest community in Tallapoosa County since 1910. It is know ...

. It is regarded as a members of the

greenbreast darter The greenbreast darter (''Etheostoma jordani'') 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 ...

(''E. jordani'')

species complex In biology, a species complex is a group of closely related organisms that are so similar in appearance and other features that the boundaries between them are often unclear. The taxa in the complex may be able to hybridize readily with each oth ...

and it is not

sympatric In biology, two related species or populations are considered sympatric when they exist in the same geographic area and thus frequently encounter one another. An initially interbreeding population that splits into two or more distinct species sh ...

with any other member of that species complex.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3762188 Etheostoma Fish described in 1993