Darter Id

This is a darter that was ID'd as a Tessellated Darter - Etheostoma olmstedi on another forum by the forum members. I'm just not sure that's the correct I'm thinking maybe Swamp Darter - Etheostoma fusiforme. The owner wasn't really sure of the ID so I ask permission to post the image and ask for an ID on here.

Here's the info he gave me about it:
"It is 1 1/4" long, there is a broken black line from the nose to the eye, stops and picks back up from the back of eye to the gill rake. It came from Florida with a shipment of ghost shrimp as a bye catch. Florida Darter is what I was always told it was."
Thanks for any help.

Looks like a cypress darter, Etheostoma proeliare. The lateral line is short, high on the body and strongly arched, whereas it would be longer, flatter, and lower on the side on a tessellated darter, and swamp darters (E. fusiforme, one of my first guesses) have a vertical row of three spots at the base of the tail. Tessellateds also have more well-defined saddles, and if you squint just so you can sort of see the lateral blotches are elongate (they're more blotchy in tessellateds)... That said, it's a little weird, there's not much of a teardrop (like you'd expect in E. proeliare) and the proportions look more "swamp darter-ish." A clearer picture would help.

cheers,
Dave

It looks like a swamp darter to me. Then again, I have very little experience with cypress darters. I do know that swamp darters are a very common occurrence with ghost shrimp shipments.

Yeah, I'm going fusiforme or proelaire, leaning more toward fusiforme. Wouldn't you expect the red and black dorsal color and the teardrop to show up in this photo if it were proelaire Dave? I know it's unclear, but I don't think we'd miss it with the way he caught the fish with the dorsal extended.

It's definately not olmstedi

Todd

Wouldn't you expect the red and black dorsal color and the teardrop to show up in this photo if it were proeliare Dave? I know it's unclear, but I don't think we'd miss it with the way he caught the fish with the dorsal extended.

Yeah, you're right. The LL counts are too high for proeliare. That's what I get for IDing fish pre-coffee. Still, it looks weird for a fusiforme to my eye, and the subdued caudal spots are somewhat perplexing...

cheers,
Dave

The lack of the teardrop is what made me think it isn't an olmstedi. The owner didn't mention any red in the dorsal fin.

Thanks for your help. I'm actually quite thrilled that I seem to have guessed it right.