Conasauga Creek Mystery Fish

The other day my kids and I saw some very interesting darters in our creek. They were only about 2.5" long but chunky, thin black horizontal stripes all over them, a dark teal throat patch and red, white and blue fins. There were some that had orange throat patches, thick vertical stripes and teal fins. Very pretty little things. Then we saw some that we are assuming were females but they were about an inch or two long, very thin, kind of beige with a series of black spots on their sides. They had cute little faces almost like a parrot. One had a light blueish green face and an orangy stripe on it's belly. The others didn't have much bright color on them at all and their fins were almost invisible.

We are in Monroe County, TN and this was Consauga Creek in Tellico Plains, TN.

We could possibly get pictures if we can find them again. I wish TN wasn't so strict about keeping natives in home aquariums. My kids wanted to bring them home sooooo bad!!

If you don't have an ID book, I might suggest looking at Dave Neely's outstanding collection of photos from Tennessee to get you started.
You can find them in his gallery here: http://gallery.nanfa.../Dave Neely/TN/

Welcome to the forum!

If you don't have an ID book, I might suggest looking at Dave Neely's outstanding collection of photos from Tennessee to get you started.
You can find them in his gallery here: http://gallery.nanfa.../Dave Neely/TN/

Welcome to the forum!

OK! Thanks!! I found two of them! Now, how do you say these in English?
Etheostoma rufilineatum, Etheostoma caeruleum

Edited by conasaugadarter, 15 April 2010 - 12:41 PM.

Redline darter and rainbow darter, respectively.

Redline darter and rainbow darter, respectively.

Are these species endangered or threatened?

That is exactly what I was going to say Nathan. I've been in and around Conasauga Creek before and those were pretty much the dominant darters. Neither are threatened or endangered.

That is exactly what I was going to say Nathan. I've been in and around Conasauga Creek before and those were pretty much the dominant darters. Neither are threatened or endangered.

I understand that I cannot take these fish from the creek and keep them in my tank but is there a place I can purchase them for my tank? I really like the looks of them and from what I've been reading on this forum a lot of people have rainbow darters in their tanks at home!

I was just responding to the Latin names he posted. But I would guess the "parrot-faced" darters were Tennessee snubnose darters, Etheostoma tennesseense.

I understand that I cannot take these fish from the creek and keep them in my tank but is there a place I can purchase them for my tank? I really like the looks of them and from what I've been reading on this forum a lot of people have rainbow darters in their tanks at home!

There are several places you can purchase darters online. Check out the vendor's section on this forum. However, Tennessee law regarding buying fishes native to the state is a little unclear. I suggest you check with TWRA before making any purchases. If it turns out you can buy darters, be sure to hold on to your receipts!

I was just responding to the Latin names he posted. But I would guess the "parrot-faced" darters were Tennessee snubnose darters, Etheostoma tennesseense.

You're probably right. It seems like I remember seeing blue on their faces though.
Are they endangered or threatened? They sure are fast!

I'm really glad I found this website. I look forward to discovering more about our native fish. Thanks for all your help!!!

Male snubnoses do have blue-green on the face. Check out Uland's photo in this thread: http://forum.nanfa.o...ee-march-2010/.

Tennessee snubnoses are not threatened or endangered in TN. They are fairly widespread and common. There are two rare darters in Monroe County: the snail darter (Percina tanasi) and the duskytail darter (E. percnurum).

Male snubnoses do have blue-green on the face. Check out Uland's photo in this thread: http://forum.nanfa.o...ee-march-2010/.

Tennessee snubnoses are not threatened or endangered in TN. They are fairly widespread and common. There are two rare darters in Monroe County: the snail darter (Percina tanasi) and the duskytail darter (E. percnurum).

We know about the snail darters and we assumed that the darters we were looking at were snail darters so we didn't want to disturb them. We've played in that creek for years and had never noticed the redline and rainbow darters before and were just flabbergasted by their appearance. We can't wait to get back down there to see if we can find them again! We'll be sure to take the camera with us this time!! We are really soooo impressed by all of the fish photos on this site!! We are truly inspired!! We think it is extremely important for our kids to know why we need to take care of our planet!! Especially, keeping the water clean!

Nope, there are no snail darters in Conasauga Creek, though they are nearby. Some other really colorful darters downstream too. You live in one of my favorite places in Tennessee, really beautiful landscape and streams.

Edited by ashtonmj, 15 April 2010 - 07:59 PM.

Nope, there are no snail darters in Conasauga Creek, though they are nearby. Some other really colorful darters downstream too. You live in one of my favorite places in Tennessee, really beautiful landscape and streams.

It's true! I live in paradise!!

Now I want to look for darters in other parts of the creek. Where can I find a list or pictures of other darters in Conasauga Creek? I know Conasauga is a VERY long creek. I've camped up at Hog's Branch where we hiked to Conasauga Falls but I never even thought to look for darters there. We were mostly looking out for copperheads! Funny thing is downstream is a little confusing to me. Where I live the creek is flowing north so is downstream further north, west or south? South where it starts or south where it ends?

I believe for the most part it flows south from the town of Etowah towards the Hiwassee River.

 redline dater2.JPG   34.48KB   2 downloadsWell, I am totally smitten with this fish!! He has such a personality! Even after I caught him in a net, took his picture and let him go he still hung around and taunted me. He was sooo brave and curious. I tried to erase the net out of the picture so you can see him. I'm pretty certain he is a redline, I mean Etheostoma rufilineatum, but I want to show him off anyway. He was soo funny. I'd scrape back some rocks and make a little hole to expose the sand and then just leave my hand in it and he would come practically sit on my hand but he was absolutely impossible to catch! We played this game for two hours! There were lots of other darters around but he was keeping them run off pretty good. I guess I was in his territory!

OK, here he is . . .

PS
I have a whole new respect for the photographers of all those pictures posted on this website!! Fish are terrible models!

Edited by conasaugadarter, 16 April 2010 - 09:28 PM.

Conasaugadarter,

Welcome to the forum! I sell Rainbow Darters (Etheostoma caeruleum) and have permission to ship to Tennessee. You can check out pictures of my fish at: http://www.btdarters.../pricelist.html. I have been out collecting and am getting some Rainbows, but haven't updated my pricelist page yet. I'll have to do that soon. I'm selling the High-Color Rainbows for $7.99 each or $15.00 per pair, plus shipping. If you want a quote, please PM your full address to me.

You can find Redline Darters at Sach's Systems Aquaculture: http://www.aquacultu...om/fwverts.html. I don't know if Paul has permission to ship to Tennessee, though. You'll have to ask him about that.

Again, welcome to the forum! I hope you enjoy your stay!

Brian

Edit: Added content.

Edited by BTDarters, 17 April 2010 - 03:45 AM.