The teardrop darter (Etheostoma barbouri) 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 eastern United States. It is only found in Kentucky and Tennessee, where it occurs in the middle to upper reaches of the Green River drainage. It inhabits small rivers and creeks and rocky pools where it feeds on the larvae of blackflies and midges, immature stages of caddisflies and mayflies, and cladocerans and copepods. This species can reach a length of 6 cm (2.4 in), though most only reach about 4.2 cm (1.7 in).[3] This species creates nests in which the females deposit their eggs and these are guarded by the male and have been found to contain between 40 and 80 eggs.[1] The teardrop darter was first formally described by Robert A. Kuehne and James W. Small Jr. in 1971 with the type locality given as Brush Creek, a tributary of the Green River, 2.7 miles north of Liberty, Casey County, Kentucky.[4] The specific name honours Professor Roger W. Barbour (1919-1993) in recognition of his contribution to the knowledge of Kentucky's vertebrate fauna.[5]

Teardrop darter
Fig. 1. Egg deposition sites of darters. A) Percina evides spawning in Little River, Blount Co., TN, 17 June 1979. B) Etheostoma duryi spawning in Butler Creek, Lawrence Co., TN, 5 April 1975. C) Etheostoma chlorosomum spawning in aquarium; eggs are being deposited on dead leaf. D) E. asprigene spawning in aquarium; eggs are being deposited on leaves of grass. E) E. barbouri male and his nest of eggs on the underside of stone removed from Pettys Fork, Adair Co., KY, 29 May 1981. F) E. aquali male and his nest of eggs on underside of stone removed from Buffalo River, Lewis Co., TN, 5 May 1981. The male E. barbouri and E. aquali were guarding the eggs prior to removal.[1]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Perciformes
Family: Percidae
Genus: Etheostoma
Species:
E. barbouri
Binomial name
Etheostoma barbouri
Kuehne & Small, 1971

References edit

  1. ^ a b Lawrence M. Page; Michael E. Retzer; Robert M Stiles (1982). "Spawning behavior in seven species of darters" (PDF). Brimleyana. 8: 135–143.
  2. ^ NatureServe (2013). "Etheostoma barbouri". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2013: e.T202447A15363384. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2013-1.RLTS.T202447A15363384.en. Retrieved 19 November 2021.
  3. ^ Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.) (2014). "Etheostoma barbouri" in FishBase. February 2014 version.
  4. ^ Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Etheostoma (Catonotus) barbouri". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 26 September 2020.
  5. ^ Robert A. Kuehne & James W. Small Jr. (1971). "Etheostoma barbouri, a New Darter (Percidae, Etheostomatini) from the Green River with Notes on the Subgenus Catonotus". Copeia. 1971 (1): 18–26. doi:10.2307/1441595.