On Saturday Morning, Mark and I started by sampling a small tributary of the Illinois River in central Grundy County. This location had clean riffles of small stone, sandy shoals and pools with small boulders and/or pieces of broken sheet limestone. The water was rather clear considering its still spring like at this latitude and the water is still slightly elevated. The riffle nearest the road crossing was inviting and full of both Etheostoma caeruleum Rainbow Darter and Etheostoma spectabile Orangethroat Darter and a few Campostoma anomalum Central Stoneroller. After sampling all portions of the riffle I hoped to find something unusual from the larger sandy areas only to find juvenile darters. We decided to move downstream and investigate more riffles and shallow pools in sight. We then found quite a few Phoxinus erythrogaster Southern Redbelly Dace and Notropis buccatus Silverjaw Minnow. I was very excited as this was my first time seeing Silverjaw minnows in Illinois. This site exceeded our expectations in both species and natural beauty/stream quality. Mark was a huge help with photographing and the species lists. We hated to leave this location but we had several sites lined up ahead.


Campostoma anomalum Central Stoneroller
Luxilus chrysocephalus Striped Shiner
Lythrurus umbratilis Redfin Shiner
Nocomis biguttatus Hornyhead Chub
Notropis buccatus Silverjaw Minnow
Phoxinus erythrogaster Southern Redbelly Dace
Pimephales notatus Bluntnose Minnow
Semotilus atromaculatus Creek Chub
Catostomus commersoni White Sucker
Ambloplites rupestris Rock Bass
Etheostoma caeruleum Rainbow Darter
Etheostoma flabellare Fantail Darter
Etheostoma nigrum Johnny Darter
Etheostoma spectabile Orangethroat Darter
Percina maculata Blackside Darter

Notropis buccatus Silverjaw Minnow



Phoxinus erythrogaster Southern Redbelly Dace



Etheostoma caeruleum Rainbow Darter


Etheostoma flabellare Fantail Darter
Male

Female


Etheostoma nigrum Johnny Darter


Etheostoma spectabile Orangethroat Darter


Percina maculata Blackside Darter
Male



The next site was a tributary of the Mazon River also in Grundy County. This stream was sandy and silted where the water slowed with medium rock runs and rubble riffles. We were largely disappointed with the diversity at this site. I’m certain we’ll return in the summer to sample again.

Luxilus chrysocephalus Striped Shiner
Lythrurus umbratilis Redfin Shiner
Semotilus atromaculatus Creek Chub
Fundulus notatus Blackstripe Topminnow
Lepomis megalotis Longear Sunfish
Etheostoma zonale Banded Darter

We then traveled South and East to sample a headwater of the Mazon River. This was a sandy stream with medium rock and rubble riffles. This tiny stream looks promising but the attached farm land is tilled very close to the waters edge and isn’t particularly scenic for that reason.

Luxilus chrysocephalus Striped Shiner
Lythrurus umbratilis Redfin Shiner
Pimephales notatus Bluntnose Minnow
Ameiurus natalis Yellow Bullhead
Noturus flavus Stonecat
Ambloplites rupestris Rock Bass
Lepomis megalotis Longear Sunfish
Etheostoma zonale Banded Darter

The last site was further West and located in Kankakee county. This tributary of the Kankakee River had medium rock riffles mixed with many larger limestone pieces. One pool in particular was deep while others were rather small and shallow. We were both pleased at the beauty of this site and have plans to return.

Campostoma anomalum Central Stoneroller
Cyprinella spiloptera Spotfin Shiner
Luxilus chrysocephalus Striped Shiner
Lythrurus umbratilis Redfin Shiner
Nocomis biguttatus Hornyhead Chub
Notropis percobromus Carmine Shiner
Pimephales notatus Bluntnose Minnow
Semotilus atromaculatus Creek Chub
Hypentelium nigricans Northern Hog Sucker
Noturus flavus Stonecat
Fundulus notatus Blackstripe Topminnow
Ambloplites rupestris Rock Bass
Etheostoma caeruleum Rainbow Darter
Etheostoma zonale Banded Darter

Notropis percobromus Carmine Shiner
Female



Male




I really had a great time on Saturday and pleased to have sampled 23 species locally with Mark. We felt pretty lucky to have found two new beautiful locations that appear promising to snorkel in coming months.


Last two photos from the last sampling site.

Silverjaws are awesome. Welcome to the club!

I'm very impressed by that fantail darter! Beautiful! I've only seen barred fantail darters before, never spotted ones like that. I'm puzzled, though. According to the checklist, these are the known types of fantail darter:

Etheostoma flabellare flabellare Rafinesque 1819; Barred Fantail Darter
Etheostoma flabellare brevispina (Coker 1926); Carolina Fantail Darter
Etheostoma flabellare humerale (Girard 1859); Chesapeake Fantail Darter
Etheostoma flabellare lineolatum (Agassiz 1854); Striped Fantail Darter
Etheostoma flabellare ssp. (Tennessee and New River drainages)

Which one of those would that fantail darter be? Or is it an unlisted form?