I made it out with my friend Justin Baker to help him with collecting redline darters throughout their range in TN and KY over the past several days. We made quite a few collections and saw a lot of redline darters and many other species.

Day 1 Thursday April 26th we stopped at 5 sites and were successful in collecting redline darters at 4 of them…

Marrowbone Creek KY
Redline Darter Etheostoma rufilineatum
Rainbow Darter E. caeruleum
TN Snubnose Darter E. simoterum
Barcheek Darter E. obeyense
Greenside Darter E. blennioides
Headwater Darter E. lawrencei
Whitetail Shiner Cyprinella galactura
Rosefin Shiner Lythrurus ardens
Striped Shiner Luxilus chrysocephalus
Stoneroller sp. Campostoma sp
Notropis sp.
Bluntnose Minnow Pimephales notatus
Central Longear Sunfish Lepomis megalotis
Smallmouth Bass Micropterus dolomieu
Northern Hogsucker Hypentelium nigricans
Northern Studfish Fundulus catenatus
Banded Sculpin Cottus carolinae

Crocus Creek KY
Redline Darter Etheostoma rufilineatum
Rainbow Darter E. caeruleum
Stoneroller sp. Campostoma sp
Rosefin Shiner Lythrurus ardens
Striped Shiner Luxilus chrysocephalus
Bluntnose Minnow Pimephales notatus
Northern Studfish Fundulus catenatus
Banded Sculpin Cottus carolinae
Juvenile trout (brown or rainbow was only about 2” long)

Wolf Creek KY
Headwater Darter E. lawrencei
Rainbow Darter E. caeruleum
Whitetail Shiner Cyprinella galactura
Stoneroller sp. Campostoma sp
Rosefin Shiner Lythrurus ardens
Striped Shiner Luxilus chrysocephalus
Bluntnose Minnow Pimephales notatus
Northern Hogsucker Hypentelium nigricans
Northern Studfish Fundulus catenatus

Fishing Creek KY
Redline Darter Etheostoma rufilineatum
Rainbow Darter E. caeruleum
TN Snubnose Darter E. simoterum
Greenside Darter E. blennioides
Log Perch Percina caprodes
Stoneroller sp. Campostoma sp
Rosefin Shiner Lythrurus ardens
Notropis sp.
Stonecat Madtom Noturus flavus
Northern Studfish Fundulus catenatus
Banded Sculpin Cottus carolinae
Rock Bass Ambloplites rupestris
Black Redhorse Moxostoma duquesnei

Pitman Creek KY (very short stop due to the oncoming thunderstorm)
Redline Darter Etheostoma rufilineatum
Rainbow Darter E. caeruleum

Day 2 Friday April 27th Justin and I split off from the two others (his advisor and another student) and we were able to work quickly together and made it to 8 sites but only found redline darters at 4 of them.

Beaver Creek KY
Greenside Darter E. blennioides
Rainbow Darter E. caeruleum
Stoneroller sp. Campostoma sp
Rock Bass Ambloplites rupestris

Otter Creek KY
Redline Darter Etheostoma rufilineatum
Rainbow Darter E. caeruleum
Greenside Darter E. blennioides
Notropis sp. (pictured below id for me if you can)
Stonecat Madtom Noturus flavus
Northern Studfish Fundulus catenatus
Banded Sculpin Cottus carolinae

Wolf River TN
Redline Darter Etheostoma rufilineatum
Rainbow Darter E. caeruleum
Greenside Darter E. blennioides
Fantail Darter E. flabellare
Largescale Stoneroller Campostoma oligolepis (large male pictured below)
Bluntnose Minnow Pimephales notatus
Banded Sculpin Cottus carolinae
Rock Bass Ambloplites rupestris
Central Longear Sunfish Lepomis megalotis
Northern Hogsucker Hypentelium nigricans

East Fork of the Obey River TN
Rainbow Darter E. caeruleum
Greenside Darter E. blennioides
Ashy Darter E. cinereum
Spotted Bass Micropterus punctatus
Smallmouth Bass Micropterus dolomieu
Rock Bass Ambloplites rupestris
Banded Sculpin Cottus carolinae
Northern Studfish Fundulus catenatus
Rosefin Shiner Lythrurus ardens
Notropis sp.

Big Indian Creek TN
Rainbow Darter E. caeruleum
Log Perch Percina caprodes
Stoneroller sp. Campostoma sp

West Fork Obey River TN
Redline Darter Etheostoma rufilineatum
Rainbow Darter E. caeruleum
TN Snubnose Darter E. simoterum
Barcheek Darter E. obeyense
Log Perch Percina caprodes
Stoneroller sp. Campostoma sp
Notropis sp.
Smallmouth Bass Micropterus dolomieu
Rock Bass Ambloplites rupestris
Banded Sculpin Cottus carolinae
Northern Hogsucker Hypentelium nigricans
Stonecat Madtom Noturus flavus

Roaring River TN
Redline Darter Etheostoma rufilineatum
Greenside Darter E. blennioides
Stoneroller sp. Campostoma sp
Stonecat Madtom Noturus flavus
Redeye Bass Micropterus coosae (no where near where they naturally occur so this must be an introduced population)

Spring Creek TN
Rainbow Darter E. caeruleum
Greenside Darter E. blennioides
Banded Sculpin Cottus carolinae
Stoneroller sp. Campostoma sp
Notropis sp.

Also being the last site of the day with 30 minutes of daylight left I took out the spinning rod and added…
Redeye Bass Micropterus coosae (again well outside native range)
Smallmouth Bass Micropterus dolomieu
Rock Bass Ambloplites rupestris

Day 3 Saturday April 28th. Again the group split for the first site because the other two had some more crayfish to collect and them we rejoined for the rest of the day.

Blackburn Fork Roaring River TN
Redline Darter Etheostoma rufilineatum
Rainbow Darter E. caeruleum
TN Snubnose Darter E. simoterum
Stoneroller sp. Campostoma sp
Notropis sp.
Striped Shiner Luxilus chrysocephalus
Smallmouth Bass Micropterus dolomieu
Rock Bass Ambloplites rupestris
Banded Sculpin Cottus carolinae
Northern Hogsucker Hypentelium nigricans
Northern Studfish Fundulus catenatus

Smith Fork of the Caney River TN
Redline Darter Etheostoma rufilineatum
Rainbow Darter E. caeruleum
TN Snubnose Darter E. simoterum
Fantail Darter E. flabellare
Banded Sculpin Cottus carolinae
Stoneroller sp. Campostoma sp
Notropis sp.
Bluntnose Minnow Pimephales notatus
Northern Studfish Fundulus catenatus
Blackstriped Topminnow Fundulus notatus
Central Longear Sunfish Lepomis megalotis
Spotted Bass Micropterus punctatus
Lamprey sp. (pictures below id if you can please)

Harpeth River TN
Redline Darter Etheostoma rufilineatum
TN Snubnose Darter E. simoterum
Fantail Darter E. flabellare
Striped Darter E. virgatum
Fringed Darter E. crossopterum
Greenside Darter E. blennioides
Stoneroller sp. Campostoma sp
Notropis sp.
Striped Shiner Luxilus chrysocephalus
Redfin Shiner Lythrurus umbratilis
Banded Sculpin Cottus carolinae
Warmouth Lepomis gulosus
Green Sunfish Lepomis cyanellus
Central Longear Sunfish Lepomis megalotis
Blackspotted Topminnow Fundulus olivaceus
Stonecat Madtom Noturus flavus

Duck River TN (very limited access point due to deep and very fast water below a dam in Columbia, also only had 30 minutes of daylight and still 10 darter species, I hope to return some day)
Redline Darter Etheostoma rufilineatum
Fantail Darter E. flabellare
Greenside Darter E. blennioides
Coppercheek Darter E. aquali
Golden Darter E. denoncourti
Speckled Darter E. stigmaeum
Banded Darter E. zonale
Log Perch Percina caprodes
Gilt Darter Percina evides
Rainbow Darter E. caeruleum
Stoneroller sp. Campostoma sp
Notropis sp.
Bullhead Minnow Pimephales vigilax
Fathead Minnow Pimephales promelas
Steelcolor Shiner Cyprinella whipplei
Central Longear Sunfish Lepomis megalotis

Day 4, April 29th one last site before the long drive back to northern Ohio…

Piney River TN
Redline Darter Etheostoma rufilineatum
Greenside Darter E. blennioides
Rainbow Darter E. caeruleum
Blenny Daryer E. blennius
TN Snubnose Darter E. simoterum
Safron Darter E. flavum (pictured below can someone confirm my ID on this one)
Creek Chub Semotilus atromaculatus
Stoneroller sp. Campostoma sp
Notropis sp. I think telescope shiner
Notropis sp. I think roseyface shiner
Bluntnose Minnow Pimephales notatus
Striped Shiner Luxilus chrysocephalus
Roseyside Dace Clinostomus funduloides
Northern Studfish Fundulus catenatus
Fundulus sp. (couldn’t catch them either notatus or olivaceus)
Central Longear Sunfish Lepomis megalotis
Smallmouth Bass Micropterus dolomieu
Rock Bass Ambloplites rupestris
Banded Sculpin Cottus carolinae
Mosquitofish Gambusia affinis

The three from St. Louis hit one more site before they headed back as well. It was a great trip to some beautiful streams some of which I hope to return to when I can spend more than an hour at each targeting one specific species and then quickly taking pictures and going to the next. Pictures to follow...


Ashy darter


Blenny Darter


Female Barcheek Darter


Female Black Redhorse


Female Coppercheek Darter


Female Redline Darter


Female Redline Darter


Female Striped Darter


Female TN Snubnose Darter


Fringed Darter





If someone can ID this lamprey please do...


Male Barcheek Darter

Male bar cheek darter guarding the eggs the femalse laid within 24 hours of being put in the tank



male black redhorse


male coppercheek darter


male gilt darter


male golden darter



male northern studfish




male redline darters


Male Snubnose species... I think I know what species this is but I don't want to influence anyone's guess on an id so I can see if you guys come to the same conclusion. It was from the piney river a tributary to the lower duck river.


Male Striped Darter


Male TN Snubnose


Male Whitetail Shiner


Notropis sp. any guesses? this was from otter creek in the cumberland drainage.


a plant I brought some of back that I was hoping to possibly get an ID on and some care if anyone has kept it before.


A male Largescale Stoneroller
Hope you all enjoy!

Your lamprey is either a Castaneus or Bdellium...I would really need to see the teeth to confirm...Definitly one of the above though..I'll look at some of my locality data when I get home and see which matches your stated locality.

Great Work Brian!

I'm just about speechless!

Impressive fish list and fantastic photos. My legs and back hurt just looking at the number of locations you fellows sampled.

The double tipped circumoral teeth looks like a Ohio lamprey. But I am far from being a lamprey expert.

The snubnose darter above that you're inviting an ID for could be Etheostoma atripinne, sometimes known as the "golden snubnose darter" but usually considered to be a form of Tennessee snubnose, Eth. simoterum. There's a color photo of the "golden snubnose darter" on Plate 12 of The American Darters that looks very similar to your photo. The lower Duck is groundzero for the "golden snubnose".

The double tipped circumoral teeth looks like a Ohio lamprey. But I am far from being a lamprey expert.

OK now that I'm off a damn Dial up I see you did post a oral disc pic...Did not see that in my last post..
Still though I would say it is either an Ohio or Chestnut The fish is showing those annoying intermediate traits of both of them. I really do not think it can be ID'd just by the pics alone the fish on hand would be better to go off of. Myomere counts tend to be higher on Ohio than Chestnut and would help narrow it more.

I'm really leaning toward Chestnut on that coloration thing that is so useless at times. Ohio are usually much more Greyish blue or greyish brown and this one has the more yellow tan I would expect from a Chestnut.

Regardless it is a damn cool fish and all those jelly bean fish are not all that shabby either...

Brian, wow you were basically in my back yard my last few days in Tennessee, and we were even out and about Friday and a little on Saturday. We probably even drove past each other at some point on your way to Blackburn. Yes the red eye bass are WAY out of their native range. Someone about 50 years ago with TWRA that lived near by decided he liked to catch them and brought them to that area. They are in the Roaring River, Spring Creek, Blackburn Fork.... and hyberdize quite readily with the other Micropterus species.


From Etnier and Starnes (1993)
All of your E. simoterum from the Cumberland drainages are actually E. atripinne. already.
All of the L. ardens are also now recognized as L. fasciolaris (Scarlet shiner).
Your picture of the 'unknown' snubnose darter along with where you collected it from makes me believe it is a E. flavum (Saffron darter). Connections of saddles from about 4 or 5 back, blue caudal margins with the overall yellow color, doral membranes completely red and not spotted.
Your unknown Notropis from the Cumberland tribs around Cookeville along with the picture lead me to believe they were N. rubellus. Very pretty, very delicate, Cumberland subspecies I believe...

Did you know/see that just a little ways DS of the dam at Columbia there is a boat ramp and a trail running furthe downstream to a braided channel/riffle complex? We went there quite frequently to make midden surveys for the past two years. It's much better access than immediately below the dam and a little nicer of an area for what you were after.

Thanks Matt on the ID help, E. flavum was what I came up with as well on that snub because we found TN snubs in the same location so I knew they were two separate species and the description of E. flavum in petersons (although there's no color plate) fit better than anything else along with the location.

Thanks as well to Richard on the lamprey don't have the specimen though so your best guess is probably as good as we'll get. I actually didn't get to keep much because the guys from st Louis kept most everything.

Also on the Redeye or Coosa Bass I was pleasantly surprised but at the same time disappointed that they were out of their native range. I of course being a sunfish nut and collecting with a permit tried to keep them but I was unprepared for larger fish and only had one cooler which didn't work to well with four 6-8" very aggressive fish. The largest one made it back just fine as for the other 3 they will make a nice addition to the Heidelberg College specimen collection. I'll get some pics of the winner and post them later. Some day I'm gonna get a breeding group of those guys, just not from that trip.

Here's a couple pics of the winning Redeye Bass. I didn't want to stress it out too much by putting it in my big photo tank so they aren't the best, but surprisingly despite fighting the other 3 to the death (they were all torn to shreds) in the cooler on the way home this one doesn't seem to have a scratch on it. I'm sure I'll get some better pics of it once it is in a more permanent home. I too am moving this weekend so everything is going to be a mess here for the next couple weeks so I may not be on here much but hopefully all goes well in the moving process.

Hello Brian,
Great trip! Your Striped Darter E. virgatum from the Harpeth is actually E. derivativum. It was described in 2003. If anyone would like a PDF, send me an email at thomas.near@yale.edu, or go to my website listed in my user profile. I have all of my pubs up there as PDFs. The paper is Page, Hardman, and Near 2003 Copeia.

I spent some time studying the diet of the Redeyes in Tennessee. It is too bad that they are up there.

Pretty fishies! Nice Photos! Your shiner sp may be a Tennessee shiner. They get red like that and have the RR tracks down their side as I recall.