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The Life History of the Slough Darter, Etheostoma Gracile

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The Life History of the Slough Darter, Etheostoma Gracile mmmk nil' ' ^tja^^tttjt ^ 2 L I B R.AFLY OF THE UN IVER5ITY Of ILLINOIS cop. i.AiUHAL HISTORY SURVEY 'E THE LIFE HISTORY OF THE SLOUGH DARTER, ETHEOSTOMA GRACILE (PISCES, PERCIDAE) Marvin E. Braasch Philip W. Smith <? A. -A. \.o, " "^^ , *— 'mm, r ^ ^ -c -i-,™,^^ ILLINOIS NATURAL HISTORY SURVEY Biological Notes No. 58 Urbana, Illinois • June, 1967 state of Illinois Department of Registration and Education NATURAL HISTORY SURVEY DIVISION THE LIFE HISTORY OF THE SLOUGH DARTER, ETHEOSTOMA GRACILE (PISCES, PERCIDAE) Marvin E. Braasch and Philip W. Smith SEVERAL STUDIES HAVE BEEN PUBLISHED ]K)re, but in the female the genital pore is distinctly on ieproducti\e habits of darters (for a summary, see larger than the anal pore. Winn 1958). However, a detailed life-history study The small young of the species can be readily dis- is not available for any of the eight species and sub- tinguished from juveniles of other darters occurring species of the subgenus Hololcpis. The subgenus is an with them by the distinctly reddish eye, three small ecologically distinctive group of which all members typi- caudal spots, and pronounced upward flexure of the cally inhabit swamps, sloughs, and low-gradient streams groove for the lateral line. in the Coastal Plain and Mississippi River valley. The species was described by Girard (1859:103) as A surprising amount of ecological information has, Boleosoma gracile (type-locality Rio Seco, Fort Inge, nevertheless, been assembled by Hubbs & Cannon (1935) Uvalde County, Texas) and, until Bailey (1951) re- and especially by Collette (1962) through remarkably duced many nominal genera to subgeneric rank, was thorough reviews of others" published obser\ations and variously placed in the genera Boleosoma, Bolcichthys, through inferences drawn from morphology. This paper Poccilichthys. and Hololepis. Poeciliclitliys butlerianus on the slough darter, Etheostoma gracile (Girard), the Hay, 1882 (type-locality Big Black River, Yazoo County. westernmost member of the subgenus, substantiates many Mississippi) (1882:61) and Poeciliclitliys palustris G'il- of CoUette's (1962) inferences and sup]3lies some miss- bert, 1884 (type-locality Switz City swamp. Greene ing details. County, Indiana) (1884:209) are junior synonyms. Etheostoma gracile (cover illustration) is a rather However, most of the confusion in the literature small darter; the adult normally ranges from 35 to 50 concerning Etheostoma gracile is the result of misidenti- - It with mm ( 1 ^2 2 inches) in total length. shares fication of specimens of the superficially similar and other members of its subgenus a highly arched lateral allopatric E. e\ile (Girard) and of the closely related line. The species is unique throughout most of its range and parapatric E. fusiformc (Girard) . A synomiTiy. in that the lateral line, consisting of 13-27 pored scales, excellent descriptions, and analyses of individual and is within three to five scale rows of the base of the geographic variation are gi\en by Collette (1962). spinous dorsal fin. The slou£;h darter occurs from the southern portion Females, nonbreeding males, and large young ha\e of Illinois southward in the tributaries of the Wabash fine reticulations of brown on the back and sides, over- and Mississippi rivers through western Kentucky and laying a light yellow or tan. .\11 adult males and most Tennessee, the bootheel of Missouri, and the state of females and large young have green blotches or vertical Mississippi to the Gulf Coast: thence westward through bands on the sides. In females, nonbreeding males, Louisiana and ."Arkansas ap])roximately to central Texas: and large juveniles the spinous dorsal fin is clear, ex- and north through eastern Oklahoma to southeastern cept for a subdistal red-orange stripe or row of red Kansas (Fig. 1). It is generally distributed and abun- dots; in breeding males the clear area becomes blue dant in the southern half of Illinois. black. The soft dorsal and caudal fins are barred with A\'e arc indebted to Mark R. \Veher, Toshio Yama- brown; the paired fins and the anal fin are usually ])at- moto, l)a\id L. Thomas, .\rnold Gnilka, Dr. Max Hens- ternless. lev, and Mrs. Dorothy M. Smith for aid in field work; During the breeding season the male differs from the Dr. Hugh B. Cunningham, formerly of the Illinois Natu- female in having brighter colors and dark ]iigment in ral History Survey, for identification of insect fragments the basal portion of the s]jinous dorsal fin. Durintj all during analyses of stomach contents; and Dr. Francis seasons the male's genital ])ore is smaller tliati its anal j. Kruidenier. Uni\ersity of Illinois Department of Zoology, for identification of a fluke parasite. We are This paper is pulilisheti by authority of the State of Illinois. also grateful to Mrs. Alice Ann Prickett. formerly of IRS Ch. 127, Par. .')8.12, and is a contribution from the Section of Fautii.stic Surveys and Insect Identification of tlie Illinois the Illinois Natural History Survey, for executing the Natural History Survey. It was submitted in its ori>?inal form !)y Marvin K. Braasch in partial fulfillment of the retiuireinents drawings and to Wilmer D. Zehr, Sur\-ev photographer, for the decree of Master of Science in the CSraduate College of the ITniversity of Illinois. Mr. Braasch. a former technical for taking photographs of specimens and habitats. The assistant at the Illinois Natural History Survey, is pi-esently at the Museum of Natural Hi.story, University of Kansas. Lawrence. Illinois Natin-al Histoiy Sur\-ey provided laboratory fa- Dr. Philip W. Smith is a taxonomist in the Section of Faunistic cilities and subsidi7ed field work. Svu'veys and Insect T<lcntifica( ion. The manuscript was COVER ILLUSTRATION: Adult male Efheosfomo gracile collected in late November In Johnson County, Inols. From a watercolor by Mrs. Alice Ann Prickett. ) Fig. 1.—Distribution of Etheostoma gracile in the upper Mississippi River valley and the total range of the species (inset). The circled dot represents the study area. edited by Robeit M. Zevvadski, associate technical edi- to 20 feet wide and occasionally more than 6 feet deep, tor of the Sui\ey. each connected by narrow, fine gravel riffles. In the Dr. Hobart M. Smith, Professor of Zoology at the fall the.se pools are 10-15 feet wide and usually no University of Illinois, offered helpful suggestions and more than 2-3 feet deep. read the manuscript. Dr. Bruce B. Collette, U.S. Na- During drought periods the creek is discontinuous, tional Museum, served as special guest reviewer. as the water level falls below the level of the riffles and many of the pools stagnate. Some of the pools have DESCRIPTION OF STUDY AREA sand or clay bottoms; others have bottoms of mud cov- ered with fallen leaves, twigs, and other debris. Because The area selected for study (the circled dot in Fig. 1 of the variety of bottom ty]X's, the stream has a number is in the vicinity of the Route 37 bridge 1 mile north- of microhabitats. east of La Clede, Fayette County, Illinois, a site known There is considerable ])ollulion from the waste of to have a large population of slough darters (Fig. 2). grazing farm animals. The water temperature (in shade) The study area is an appro.ximatcly %-niilc stretch clo.sely ])arallels the air ti-mperatiue. deviating, at least of Dismal Creek with overhanging vegetation. It ex- throuijhout the sprins; months, no more than 2 F. tends from the mouth of a temporary tributary west of the highway bridge to the mouth and lower reaches METHODS of a semipermanent tributary east of the bridge. Dismal Creek is a medium-sized stream flowing The study area was visited 23 limes from February through dissected clay hills on Illinoian glacial till in 14, 1964, to December 12, 1964. Collections were taken the Wabash River watershed. It arises in extreme south- at about 2-week intervals in February, March, and eastern Fayette County, flows about 15 miles sfiutheast, April; weekly intervals in May and Juni'; 2-week inter- and empties into the Little Wabash River in adjacent vals in July and August; and 4-wcek intervals from Clay County near the town of Louisville. Sc]jtember to December. The specimens collected for The creek fluctuates greatly in size, depending on study were distributed as follows: February. 53; March, the season. In the spring it consists of a few ]W)ols up 25; April, 34; May, 6; June, 29; July, 93'; August, .35; I on the west side (below). on the cast side of tl 57 bridge (above) and Fig. 2—The study area. Dismal Creek De- were sampled with a minnow seine imtil an adequate September, 35; October, 38; November. 33: and various associ- sample (10—15 adults i and specimens of cember, 3. species were obtained. Care was exercised to a\oid Supjjlemenlal collections made in nearby creeks, par- ated Specimens were dropped in efTort to de])leting the darter population. ticularly during AjMil, May, and June an directly into 10-percent formalin. determine time of spawning, brought the nvmiber <)! As breeding time ai)proached, color photographs were slough darters examined to a])proximately 400 speci- taken of both sexes a day or two after eacii trip to re- mens. .\ few living pairs were water temperatures cord color dexelopment. Before spawning time, air and May on liiduuht to the laboratory in March. April, and were recorded and the stream condition was noted could be observed. stretch ot creek so that their behavior in tanks each visit. Pools over a rather long In May darters became difficult to find, and most of .\lthough descrijnions of the habitat are scarce, ref- those caught were brought to the laboratory.
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