8 replies to this topic

[TimothyHD]

Orangethroat Darter

 

 

Yellow Perch

 

[Josh Blaylock]

you sure that isn't a rainbow?

[TimothyHD]

According to my differentiation guide, the orange throat Darter has the orange throat and blue-green adipose fin. Rainbows have a blue green throat and orange adipose fin.

[Josh Blaylock]

What drainage was it caught in?

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[Isaac Szabo]

Nice catches! I don't believe darters have an adipose fin. It looks like a rainbow darter to me too. Both species can have some orange coloration in the throat area. One fairly reliable way to tell them apart is that orangethroats have a solid blue anal fin while rainbows have some red mixed in with the blue. When I look at the large version of your photo, I think I can make out a couple streaks of red in the anal fin.

[Josh Blaylock]

That was my thinking as well. I thought I saw a little bit of orange in the anal fin.

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[TimothyHD]

OK, then, cool.

[Jconte]

I have captured what I believe are Orange Throat that have orange in the anal fin. At least, I assume that they were Orange Throat since Rainbows are not included in any of the west central Illinois drainages. Not that it has anything to do with your comments about the present specimen...

[PBK]

Another clue besides the blue anal fin is a prominent dark teardrop. Also the dark bands on the rear half of orangethroats are more wedge-shaped and don’t completely encircle the fish, at least on Ohio specimens.