The greenside darter (''Etheostoma blennioides'') 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 h ...

, a darter from the subfamily

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 group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

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 ...

, 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 Per ...

es, ruffes and pikeperches. It inhabits swift riffles in 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 territori ...

and southern

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

Biology

Greenside darters typically live for three to five years, grow to a maximum of 5.2 inches (132 mm) standard length and sexually mature at one to two years of age. Greenside darters are reproductively active from February to April in the Midwest and Southeastern United States. Spawning occurs over algae- or moss-covered rocks in deep, swift riffles that are guarded by males that vigorously defended against intruders. Females linger in pools below the riffle and move into a male's territory when ready to spawn.

Eggs Humans and human ancestors have scavenged and eaten animal eggs for millions of years. Humans in Southeast Asia had domesticated chickens and harvested their eggs for food by 1,500 BCE. The most widely consumed eggs are those of fowl, especial ...

are viscous and stick together in small clumps on green algae (''Cladophora''), moss (''Fontinalis''), and

riverweed Podostemaceae (riverweed family), a family in the order Malpighiales, comprise about 50 genera and species of more or less thalloid aquatic herbs. Distribution and habitat They are found mostly in tropical and subtropical areas worldwide. Man ...

(Podostemaceae). ''E. blennioides'' is insectivorous, 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, 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 spec ...

and midge (Chironomidae) larvae. Significant numbers of mayfly (Ephemeroptera) and

caddisfly The caddisflies, or order Trichoptera, are a group of insects with aquatic larvae and terrestrial adults. There are approximately 14,500 described species, most of which can be divided into the suborders Integripalpia and Annulipalpia on the ...

(Trichoptera)

nymphs A nymph ( grc, νύμφη, nýmphē, el, script=Latn, nímfi, label=Modern Greek; , ) in ancient Greek folklore is a minor female nature deity. Different from Greek goddesses, nymphs are generally regarded as personifications of nature, are ...

were also found.

Characteristics

The greenside darters have an elongated body with a long and rounded snout. The dorsum is greenish-brown, with six or seven dark quadrate saddles and the sides with five to eight dark green, typically U- or W-shaped blotches. The

nape The nape is the back of the neck. In technical anatomical/medical terminology, the nape is also called the nucha (from the Medieval Latin rendering of the Arabic , "spinal marrow"). The corresponding adjective is ''nuchal'', as in the term ''nu ...

cheek The cheeks ( la, buccae) constitute the area of the face below the eyes and between the nose and the left or right ear. "Buccal" means relating to the cheek. In humans, the region is innervated by the buccal nerve. The area between the insi ...

opercle The operculum is a series of bones found in bony fish and chimaeras that serves as a facial support structure and a protective covering for the gills; it is also used for respiration and feeding. Anatomy The opercular series contains four b ...

, and belly are completely scaled, with the breast naked. The anal fin has six to 10 rays (usually eight) and 13-16

pectoral 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 ...

rays, and both are bright green in breeding males;

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 ...

s are yellowish to clear;

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 c ...

rays number 12-15, with red basal bands; breeding males have intensely bluish-green nasal and oral areas and sometimes black on the head.

Conservation

''E. blennioides'' is currently secure throughout its range, except in Mississippi, where its habitat was altered by the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway.

Distribution

The ''E. blennioides'' subspecies are believed to have diverged in separate drainage systems and

glacial A glacial period (alternatively glacial or glaciation) is an interval of time (thousands of years) within an ice age that is marked by colder temperatures and glacier advances. Interglacials, on the other hand, are periods of warmer climate betwe ...

refugia during the

Pleistocene ice age The Pleistocene ( , often referred to as the ''Ice age'') is the geological epoch that lasted from about 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was finally confirmed in ...

s, which destroyed older connections and shaped new river systems. * ''E. b. blennioides'' (northern greenside darter) ranges throughout the Ohio River basin and northeast into the Potomac and upper

Genesee River The Genesee River is a tributary of Lake Ontario flowing northward through the Twin Tiers of Pennsylvania and New York in the United States. The river provided the original power for the Rochester area's 19th century mills and still provides h ...

s. * ''E. b. newmanii'' (highlands greenside darter) occurs in the Cumberland and

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 name ...

drainages of

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County , LargestMetro = Greater Birmingham , area_total_km2 = 135,765 ...

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...

, 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 ...

; it also occurs in the

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the O ...

, Ouachita, St. Francis, and White Rivers of

and

Missouri Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...

. * ''E. b. pholidotum'' (central greenside darter) occurs in north-flowing rivers of the northern

Ozarks The Ozarks, also known as the Ozark Mountains, Ozark Highlands or Ozark Plateau, is a physiographic region in the U.S. states of Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma and the extreme southeastern corner of Kansas. The Ozarks cover a significant port ...

, the Wabash basin, the Maumee River drainage, and along the shores of

Lake Erie Lake Erie ( "eerie") is the fourth largest lake by surface area of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also h ...

and

Lake Ontario Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north, west, and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south and east by the U.S. state of New York. The Canada–United States border ...

Etymology

* ''Etheostoma'': meaning filter or strain and meaning mouth * ''E. b. blennioides'': referring to its resemblance to the Mediterranean blennies Constantine S. Rafinesque knew in his early years * ''E. b. newmanii'': patronymic for Francis H. Newman, aquatic biologist, who collected the type specimen * ''E. b. pholidotum'': meaning scaled, referring to its fully scaled belly.

Habitat

Greenside darters inhabit gravel riffles of large creeks to medium rivers and often are found in swift waters over large boulders and large rubble.

Systematics

The greenside darter was first formally described in 1819 by the French naturalist Constantine Samuel Rafinesque (1783-1840) with the type locality given as the Ohio River. Rafinesque placed the new species in a new genus '' Etheostoma'' and it was subsequently designated as the

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specime ...

of that genus by Louis Agassiz in 1854. Rafinesque gave the species the specific name ''blennoidies'' because of its resemblance to the

blennies 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 "t ...

. As previously stated, Miller (1968) concluded the ''E. blennioides'' complex consists of the four subspecies above. Unpublished studies by Richard L. Mayden and colleagues indicate ''E. b. newmanii'' from the Cumberland and Tennessee Rivers may be a valid species and distinct from other members of the complex. The former subspecies, ''E. b. gustelli'' has recently been re-elevated to species status, ''Etheostoma gustelli'' (Tuckasegee darter) based on lack of hybridization. ''Etheostoma blennioides'' belongs to the subgenus ''Etheostoma'' that contains these species: * ''E. blennius'' ( blenny darter) * ''E. gutselli'' (Tuckasegee darter) * ''E. histrio'' (harlequin darter) * ''E. inscriptum'' (turquoise darter) * ''E. lynceum'' (brighteye darter) * ''E. rupestre'' (rock darter) * ''E. sellare'' (Maryland darter) * ''E. swannanoa'' (Swannanoa darter) * ''E. thalassinum'' (seagreen darter) * ''E. zonale'' (banded darter) ''Etheostoma blennioides'' is further nested within the greenside darter group that contains ''E. blennius'', ''E. gutselli'', ''E. inscriptum'', ''E. swannanoa'', and ''E. thalassinum''.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3753866 Etheostoma Fish described in 1819 Taxa named by Constantine Samuel Rafinesque Freshwater fish of North America