What am I?

These darters were caught in first broad river basin. I used a sein to catch them, not really sure what they are. Im leaning towards tessellated darter.
Any ideas??

Guessing this is the male? Peterson field guide just shows them in black and white.











Female



Thanks

Mike

It looks like a sub-adult greenside darter.

And a very nice lookin one at that, nice capture. I would like to add with no offense intended, That as im not a great one at fish ID, are there any suggestions, as i do know there are threatened and endangered darters, as well as other fish, could one of our more learned members make a statement on this, by way of figureing out what we have BEFORE they get in our tanks. Its awfully hard to pass up a great lookin catch, but at the same time, we have to be ever vigilant about those issues.

Looks like Etheostoma swannanoa to me, however, I am not positive. Wait until Dustin or someone familar with that region chimes in.

Blake

That's a reasonable ID too; I'm not sure of the exact ranges so I'll certainly defer to anyone from Carolina.

And a very nice lookin one at that, nice capture. I would like to add with no offense intended, That as im not a great one at fish ID, are there any suggestions, as i do know there are threatened and endangered darters, as well as other fish, could one of our more learned members make a statement on this, by way of figureing out what we have BEFORE they get in our tanks. Its awfully hard to pass up a great lookin catch, but at the same time, we have to be ever vigilant about those issues.

Yes i agree with this statement. However, if i ever catch an endangered species, without knowing, or lack of a positive id at said time of capture, and have already acclimated it to a tank... I will donate it to a local museum that has permits for scientific purposes to collect local endangered species.(not much else i can do,cant release them) I do agree that I should have gotten a positive id before hand, but these are my first darters, and well i guess my inner child got the best of me.

Mike

These are Seagreens, E. thallasinum. The last one is a tesselated, E. olmstedi. The closest Swannanoa's are just to the west of there in the French Broad. There are no protected darters in the area where these fish were taken, with the only species possible being the tesselated, seagreen and piedmont, P. crassa.

These are Seagreens, E. thallasinum. The last one is a tesselated, E. olmstedi. The closest Swannanoa's are just to the west of there in the French Broad. There are no protected darters in the area where these fish were taken, with the only species possible being the tesselated, seagreem and piedmont, P. crassa.

Thank you for addressing that Dustin. I suppose the folks in areas where this could be an issue, should maybe make themselves very familiar with what is in the area being sampled prior to going out.

Thanks for the clarification Dustin!


Mike

Edited by jasonv123, 12 April 2009 - 02:57 PM.

Thank you for addressing that Dustin. I suppose the folks in areas where this could be an issue, should maybe make themselves very familiar with what is in the area being sampled prior to going out.

This should go without saying for anyone and everywhere.

These are Seagreens, E. thallasinum. The last one is a tesselated, E. olmstedi. The closest Swannanoa's are just to the west of there in the French Broad. There are no protected darters in the area where these fish were taken, with the only species possible being the tesselated, seagreen and piedmont, P. crassa.

Sorry, fourth possibility is the Carolina fantail, E. brevispina.

Are seagreens a late spawner, Dustin? I am going to have to get out that way sometime, Virgina and the Carolinas have some sweet fish.

Blake

Are seagreens a late spawner, Dustin? I am going to have to get out that way sometime, Virgina and the Carolinas have some sweet fish.

Blake

Unfortunately, no. I was out about 3 weeks ago and the males were in prime color and the females were ripe. You are welcome anytime. Just give me a list of fish you want to see and a time frame and I can put you on them.

Two other drop-dead gorgeous fish i've caught in Broad River tribs around Shelby are fieryblack shiner and the Broad River form of greenhead shiner (which actually has a pinkish-yellow head). Both are easy aquarium fish and not rare species. Also thicklip chub, not a beauty by any means but kinda cool IMO, and perhaps useful as an algae eater? (speculation).

Your main problem keeping darters with sunnies will be getting enough food to the darters, especially in warm weather when darters have to eat all day long to keep from getting skinny. Darters just can't eat alot at one time like sunnies and minnows can.

Unfortunately, no. I was out about 3 weeks ago and the males were in prime color and the females were ripe. You are welcome anytime. Just give me a list of fish you want to see and a time frame and I can put you on them.