Greenside darter

Greenside darter
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Perciformes
Family:	Percidae
Genus:	Etheostoma
Species:	E. blennioides
Binomial name
Etheostoma blennioides Rafinesque, 1819
Synonyms[2]
Etheostoma blennioides blennioides Rafinesque, 1819

The greenside darter (Etheostoma blennioides) is a species of freshwater

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, cheeks, opercle, and belly are completely scaled, with the breast naked. The anal fin has six to 10 rays (usually eight) and 13-16 pectoral fin rays, and both are bright green in breeding males; caudal fins are yellowish to clear; dorsal fin rays number 12-15, with red basal bands; breeding males have intensely bluish-green nasal and oral areas and sometimes black on the head.^[3]

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

• E. b. blennioides (northern greenside darter) ranges throughout the Ohio River basin and northeast into the Potomac and upper Genesee Rivers.
• E. b. newmanii (highlands greenside darter) occurs in the
  White Rivers of Arkansas and Missouri
  .
• E. b. pholidotum (central greenside darter) occurs in north-flowing rivers of the northern Ozarks, the Wabash basin, the Maumee River drainage, and along the shores of Lake Erie and Lake Ontario.

Etymology

• Etheostoma: etheo meaning filter or strain and stoma 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.^[6]

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.^[3]

Systematics

The greenside darter was first formally

As previously stated, Miller (1968) concluded the E. blennioides complex consists of the four subspecies above.^[4] Unpublished studies by Richard L. Mayden and colleagues indicate E. b. newmanii from the Cumberland and Tennessee Rivers may be a valid species and distinct from other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.^[3] 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.^[6]

References