Kentucky Darter - Etheostoma rafinesquei

Since hurrican Irene changed my vacation plans for this weekend and coming week, my wife and I went to Mammoth Cave KY on Friday. After touring Mammoth Cave and Hidden River Cave, I found a creek on my way back home that had some access points. I was hoping to find the KY Darter Etheostoma rafinesquei and the Headwater Darter Etheostoma lawrencei. After just a few minutes I turned up several KY Darters, HUGE Fantail Darters, and several Rainbow Darters. I realized that in my location I likely would not find any Headwater Darters, so I left quickly after catching the fish as it was fairly warm out and had a 2 hour drive home. I didn't persue the Headwater anymore as I know a location in the Rockcastle River that house them. The KY Darter appeared to be doing well here as I caught quite a few YOY's. I thought I would share a few photos from the tank today. I know that, at least, Blake will love the Ulocentra.







Feeling at home sitting on the Crinoid Stem picked from the Green River.


Here's some of the pair:







Here's the KY Darter meeting it's Green River friend the Gilt Darter, and a new buddy the TN Snubnose Darter




Not bad for a quick in and out at one location. I would like to spend more time in the smaller creeks around the Green River. These Kentucky Darters are some of the nicer looking Snubnose species I've seen....until I get to see a Splendid Darter. Just to note, any and all shells that may be seen in any photo was found on the bank, empty. Hope you enjoyed the photos.

You're absolutely right -- thanks for sharing the photos! I had to double check to see if E. rafinesquei was still Ulocentra proper under the revised phylogeny, and it is (one of five, I guess E. occidentale and E. orientale were unwarranted on a genetic basis -- bummer)! I need to add Adonia to my inventory, as it includes a lot of the previous Ulocentra. Regardless, they're all snubs and all part of a fascinating, but somewhat geographically restricted, radiation.

I wonder why none of the Ulocentra or Adonia made it to the Interior Highlands like so many of the other darter subgenera/genera such as Poecilichthys, Litocara, Nothonotus, Neoetheostoma, Oligocephalus, the list goes on.... I've only recently delved into paleodrainage correlations with some of the darter distributions, so I'll leave the hypothesizing to others.

Blake

Edited by blakemarkwell, 28 August 2011 - 12:07 AM.

I may be headed back to see some Etheostoma oriental this weekend and hopefully the KY version of the Redline Darter, which I have found to have more of an overall yellow color.

Interesting story about Constantine Rafinesque, who identified quite a few darters...

He was a professor at Transylvania University, my alma mater. He was quite the eccentric, would disappear for weeks on end looking for various critters, plants, etc... had to play the devil with class schedules. After a flare up with the university administration, he left his post, 'leaving curses on the institution'. For many years, any bad fortune at the college was said to be the the curse of Rafinesque. Every Halloween, the students would celebrate this by holding a bonfire and carry a coffin around, sort of played up on the university's spooky name. Alas, a few years after I graduated, they got a stuffy president who put a stop to that.

As a final indignity, Rafinesque is buried in the basement of the administration building. A few of us snuck into the crypt, aided by a 'borrowed' key to the vault, and pulled the slate lid off of the crypt. Sure enough, there was long, straight box bound up in rope. No, we didn't open that, we figured we had tempted fate enough.