Well, you learning about frecklebelly darters by capturing a couple for your aquarium or photo tank is not going to "contribute to their downfall."
The fact you posted a picture of P. sciera thinking it was a frecklebelly darter only amplifies my point that you need to go out capture the animal to learn what it looks like, its habitat, etc.
So if you are going to put together a page on darters, I would suggest not being too worried about your impacts of collecting. It would be a shame to put up a page and make the mistakes similar to the frecklebelly-P. sciera gaff. A "beginner's" page is no excuse for mistakes that could be alleviated by getting to know the critters you are posting about.
Also, if you all are really concerned about freshwater fish species, there is something that you can do on the first Tuesday of November 2008.
Well, yes and no. My fascinating with native fish in general and darters in particular began when I was but a wee lad, wondering what those colorful little fish that I found in the creek on our farm were. (rainbows) I've been posting a few darter shots on a couple of photography forums, and people are amazed that these brightly colored little fish exist at all, let alone in local streams. Getting ready to put together a little beginner's web page on darters, just to let a few people know what can be found, and how beautiful they are. Showing people what's in the streams can generate support for keeping the streams clean and natural.
OTOH, my conscience won't let me contribute to their downfall. Granted, taking one or two rare darters out of a stream probably won't lead to their extinction, and publishing photos of them can contribute to additional support, but I can do that with a portable photo tank and not deplete the population. I have to know that I did the right thing, and the right thing is to leave the rare ones to the people that are trained to properly study them and record their findings. The best contribution I can make is to pass the word on what mining and development are destroying. Photos work just fine for that. So rather than keeping the rare ones, I'm working on getting better photos of them.
Edited by TomNear, 04 September 2008 - 07:58 AM.