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Darter.

Started by Guest_flamingo_* , Mar 22 2007 05:58 PM

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13 replies to this topic

#1 Guest_flamingo_*

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Posted 22 March 2007 - 05:58 PM

OK, I went collecting today and I got another species of darter that rarely shows up in my area. I live in Nekoosa, Wisconsin if that helps.

I have one atm, and another unidentified type that I couldn't get a pic of at the moment:

Posted Image

I'll try and get more pics later.

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#2 Guest_daveneely_*

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Posted 22 March 2007 - 07:19 PM

Iowa darter, Etheostoma exile. Nice fish!

cheers,
Dave

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#3 Guest_flamingo_*

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Posted 22 March 2007 - 07:22 PM

I had those identified last year as rainbow darters. If you think otherwise, please let me know

. That darter in the first pic doesn't look like the "rainbows" and I had others tell me it was a male iowa darter.

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#4 Guest_flamingo_*

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Posted 22 March 2007 - 07:31 PM

Thanks Dave

. My post came in after yours lol.

Your the third who has identified it as an Iowa, so i'll leave it at that. If I ever get a picture of the other, i'll post it up.

I need to seperate these little guys tomorrow..

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#5 Guest_farmertodd_*

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Posted 22 March 2007 - 07:32 PM

Yeah the top one there is a rainbow (or maybe an orangethroat). Did you catch all these fish in the same place? Typically, habitat requirements would have rainbow and Iowa in very different places.

Todd

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#6 Guest_flamingo_*

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Posted 22 March 2007 - 07:45 PM

The "rainbows" were caught under a small bridge with steep rock ledges, and the Iowa was caught about 20 feet away from this on the bank. I went through a bunch of branches and "algae" in the water and it went into the net.

That first pic I had in my second post was thought to be a rainbow also.. it looks different then last years males so idk.

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#7 Guest_Skipjack_*

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Posted 22 March 2007 - 08:21 PM

I am not to confident on Iowa darter, never seen one in life, but it appears to be one.
The next photo is a Rainbow darter, slight chance of Orangethroat, but body pattern is wrong. Orange throat can vary greatly, but the anal fin is usually tell tale. solid blue in a male orangethroat, orange and blue in a male rainbow.
The body pattern in an orangethroat from the midwest seems to be very checkered with fairly strong horizontal emphasis. Rainbows lack this pattern, and show little pattern except for their vertical striping.

I hope this makes sense.

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#8 Guest_flamingo_*

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Posted 22 March 2007 - 10:07 PM

Thanks

. It makes sense.

I hate identifying darters, so many species that look "similar" with just a few differences.

All I know is, 6 hours ago these were collected in a net, put into a bag, transferred into a bucket, and put in the tank, and they're already going crazy and wanting food.
I love how these little guys adjust so quickly. It's kind of creepy seeing so many of them at once though..

There are a few that are definitely pregnant, so I think they're going in a small seperate tank. Any links on how to raise fry> I had someone telling me about it, but didn't get a whole lot of info.

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#9 Guest_smbass_*

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Posted 22 March 2007 - 10:20 PM

I agree with the others that you have both Iowa and Rainbow darters. Another tip is the Iowa's are long and narrow and the rainbows are sort of stocky looking. Iowa's are often found in lakes and usually live in and spawn on vegetation and Rainbows spawn in gravel riffles of flowing streams. It sounds like the stream you were sampling must have a good variety of habitats for both of those species to be found that close to one another. If you would like to see some more pics of both species and others including orangethroats just do a search in the NANFA gallery and you should find plenty of darter pics posted by myself and others.

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#10 Guest_fundulus_*

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Posted 23 March 2007 - 07:39 AM

Thanks . It makes sense.

I hate identifying darters, so many species that look "similar" with just a few differences.

All I know is, 6 hours ago these were collected in a net, put into a bag, transferred into a bucket, and put in the tank, and they're already going crazy and wanting food.
I love how these little guys adjust so quickly. It's kind of creepy seeing so many of them at once though..

There are a few that are definitely pregnant, so I think they're going in a small seperate tank. Any links on how to raise fry> I had someone telling me about it, but didn't get a whole lot of info.

You don't have to worry about pregnant darters, they're not livebearers. But you probably have females who are gravid with eggs and are ready to go if the right male is present. I've never seen an Iowa darter so I'll defer to others on this board who have.

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#11 Guest_flamingo_*

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Posted 23 March 2007 - 11:37 AM

Well, I feel kind of bad for taking pregnant, etc. darters or those ready to breed like that. I want them in a seperate tank so if they do lay eggs, it's not in a holding tank with however many fish. If they hatch, I doubt they'll make it with 30 other darters or so in the tank. And I know they're not livebearers

I'm seperating the stock up today into seperate tanks, way too many fish one tank- and a few of them are being seperated, like the iowas. I hope to go down to another creek that's in walking distance from me, and hope to catch some fantails.

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#12 Guest_BTDarters_*

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Posted 27 March 2007 - 03:31 AM

flamingo,

BT, fellow Wisconsinite here. I can tell you fa-sure that the first photo is of a male Iowa Darter and that the fish in the other pics are Rainbow Darters. The main way to tell is that the male Iowa is a lot more slender than the Rainbow Darters. Also, the Iowa has "dashes" of color in the second dorsal and caudal fins. This is distinct from the male Rainbow Darters as the male Rainbows will have "streaks" of color in the second dorsal and caudal fins. Although the female Rainbow Darters have dashes of colors in the second dorsal and caudal, like the Iowa, the stockiness of the female Rainbows distinguishes them. Hope that's not too confusing 8-[

!

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#13 Guest_BTDarters_*

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Posted 30 March 2007 - 04:41 AM

Almost forgot, regarding collecting Iowas and Rainbows in the same stream, I often encounter this. You can collect Rainbow Darters in the riffles and collect Iowas 20 feet away in a weedy pool. It's all about micro-habitat partitioning. What that means is that each species tends to occupy a particular portion of the environment that they "prefer". Iowas "prefer" areas of slow water movement that are vegetated. Rainbows "prefer" areas of swift water movement that are rocky. Because both of these habitat types can occur in a given reach of stream, both species can be encountered.

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#14 Guest_flamingo_*

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Posted 01 April 2007 - 01:23 PM

I'll have to get a pic if where I collect next time I go. The rainbows congregate in a small area about 6 feet deep under a small bridge. Water isn't really fast, but that's where most of the flow is in that area. If you walk along the egde back a few feet, it's just mud and sand lining about 30 feet with dead branches, logs, and plants sticking out from the sides. Only place i've seen with this many darters that are so bunched together. Rarely get iowas compared to the rainbows around here.