9 replies to this topic

[mattknepley]

I'm going with E. collis; and am pretty certain of it. Main tells are the caudal peduncle spots, highly arched lateral lines, and in some cases, the reflective eyes. What say you? But before you get too certain, check out the link to a previous thread; from the exact same 30' stretch of water, only a few weeks ago. The link is after the pictures.

Six Mile Creek, trib of a trib of the Saluda River, Santee System. Greenwood County, SC.
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Last time around we got thinking E. fusiforme and E. olmstedi.

http://forum.nanfa.o...bs-and-darters/

And one other post on this locale it was a pretty definite opinion that I the only darters I had were E. collis. I'd like to nail this down because I need to submit my collection data to renew my scientific collector's permit.

Thanks in advance!

[FirstChAoS]

They look like olmstedi to me, the only oddity is the almost stripe like marking on one. Even then I seen incredible variety between tesselated.

[Kanus]

I vote E collis because: those aren't swamp or sawcheek darters, and that patterning looks way too strong for any olmstedi I have ever seen, plus something less tangible (maybe the shape? They just don't look right to me for olmstedi). Granted I have never seen collis in the flesh, but that's what I'd call them.

[Sean Phillips]

I'd say collis but I'm not much of an expert on Etheostomatinae outside my local area (Western PA).

[Matt DeLaVega]

I think I would have a hard time differentiating a johnny and a tesselated, being familiar with only johnny(if I were somewhere where they overlapped). They look off from a johnny, much more than a tess. does to me, so I am voting that they are something different. Beyond that I am totally worthless.

[mattknepley]

Thanks,all. Maybe this'll help. According to Fritz's book, olmstedi is the only SC darter that lacks a frenum. I didn't get any good mouth shots, bummer. But I did get this belly shot that I neglected to post.
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Fritz says you can differentiate fusiforme from collis by the breast. collis is naked, fusiforme is scaled. These look to have naked breasts, but I can't tell for sure. (I do seem to recall a brass pole at the collecting site, though...) Also per el presidente, collis appears to have a broad, rounded snout while fusiforme's is narrow and pointed. I don't have any aerial shots of these guys, but there is one group shot where we kind of look down on one of the fish; he appears round and broad to me...

[gerald]

I'd call that E. collis most likely, but cant prove that's its not fusiforme. The high-arched lateral line puts it in the Hololepis group (swamp, sawcheek, Carolina). Do fusiforme and collis overlap in your area? I dont think their ranges overlap in NC.

[fritz]

It's collis. There are a couple of out-of-range fusiforme locales in the upstate that overlap with it. E. collis tends be more robust than fusiforme

[mattknepley]

Thanks, too, Gerald and Fritz. I enjoy this little spot and am curious as to how its populations change, or don't, depending on how winter weather effects the fishes. I've already noticed the bigger fishes from springtime are gone; and wonder if they'll be back again next year, or if they became somebody's supper...

[Dustin]

Not that it matters at this point, but I agree with Fritz and Gerald. Those are for sure collis. Collis are much deeper bodied than fusiforme and the pattern on the sides is also different.