Etheostoma spectabile

(Agassiz, 1854)

Orangethroat Darter

G5Secure Found in 4 roadless areas NatureServe Explorer →
G5SecureGlobal Rank
Least concernIUCN
Identity
Unique IDELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.102592
Element CodeAFCQC02720
Record TypeSPECIES
ClassificationSpecies
Classification StatusStandard
Name CategoryVertebrate Animal
IUCNLeast concern
Endemicendemic to a single nation
KingdomAnimalia
PhylumCraniata
ClassActinopterygii
OrderPerciformes
FamilyPercidae
GenusEtheostoma
Synonyms
Poecilichthys spectabilisAgassiz, 1854
Concept Reference
Ceas, P. A. 1997. Systematic studies of the orangethroat darter, Etheostoma spectabile complex (Percidae; subgenus Oligocephalus). Ph.D. thesis, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. viii + 157 pp.
Taxonomic Comments
Formerly there were five named subspecies: uniporum, fragi, pulchellum, squamosum, and spectabile, the latter "with several races" (Page and Burr 1991). Ceas and Page (1997) elevated uniporum and fragi to species status and split off four new species (E. burri, E. tecumsehi, E. kantuckeense, and E. bison) from the southeastern and southcentral parts of the range of E. spectabile. Ceas (1997) recognized several undescribed species in this complex: Ozark darter, headwater darter (now E. lawrencei), Sheltowee darter, Cumberland darter, and Caney Fork darter.

Includes Boleosoma phlox Cope (Page 1983). Has hybridized in Kansas with Percina caprodes (now. P. fulvitaenia); hybridization attributed to flood-related habitat alteration (Hubbs et al. 1988). Hybridizes with E. radiosum in some areas.
Conservation Status
Rank MethodExpertise without calculation
Review Date2012-01-23
Change Date2000-02-16
Edition Date2012-01-23
Edition AuthorsHammerson, G.
Range Extent200,000-2,500,000 square km (about 80,000-1,000,000 square miles)
Number of Occurrences81 - 300
Range Extent Comments
Range includes Lake Erie and Mississippi River basins, from southeastern Michigan and Ohio to eastern Wyoming, and southward to Tennessee and northern Texas; Gulf of Mexico drainages (Trinity River to San Antonio River) of Texas, mostly on the Edwards Plateau (Page and Burr 2011).

Subspecies pulchellum (Ceas 1997): Trinity, Brazos, Colorado, and Guadalupe river systems on the "Comannche" and Edwards plateaus southeastward to the Balcones Escarpment in Texas; northern tributaries of the Red River from the Wachita Mountains eastward to the Little River in Arkansas; the North Canadian River system in western Oklahoma; the Arkansas River system near Garden City, Kansas, to the Ozark escarpment west of Little Rock, Arkansas (except for streams draining the Springfield Plateau, but including the upper Neosho River system in the Flint Hills of eastern Kansas before it enters the Springfield Plateau), the Bayou des Arc and Little Red river systems of the lower White River, Arkansas; the Republican-Kansas river system of Kansas, eastern Colorado, and southern Nebraska; and the North Platte River of western Nebraska.

Subspecies squamosum (Ceas 1997, Miller and Robison 2004): endemic to the Springfield Plateau; occurs in the Spring-Grand river system in northeastern Oklahoma, southeastern Kansas, northwestern Arkansas, and southwestern Missouri, and in the Illinois River system of northeastern Oklahoma and northwestern Arkansas.

Subspecies spectabile (Ceas 1997): east of the Mississippi river, occurs in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and western Tennessee (Obion River, Obion County); and nearly all stream systems in Kentucky exclusive of the Cumberland, Dix (Kentucky drainage), Green, Salt, and Tennessee river systems; west of the Mississippi River, occurs in the Osage River system in Missouri and Kansas, the Gasconade, Meramec, and St. Francis river systems in Missouri, and other smaller streams in Iowa and Missouri that drain directly into the Mississippi or lower Missouri rivers; populations in the Missouri River system from the confluence of the Missouri and Osage rivers in Missouri to the Wakarusa River, Douglas County, Kansas, represent a large contact zone of E. s. pulchellum x E. s. spectabile intergrades.
Occurrences Comments
This species is represented by a large number of occurrences (subpopulations).
Threat Impact Comments
No major threats are known.
Ecology & Habitat

Habitat

Habitat includes slow to swift, shallow gravel riffles, and sometimes rocky runs and pools, of headwaters, creeks, and small rivers, with sand, gravel, rubble, or bedrock substrates; spring runs or quiet backwaters in some areas (Lee et al. 1980, Page and Burr 2011). This species is most abundant in alkaline waters; it seems to avoid rivers with strong current. Eggs are laid in gravel in riffles. Young drift downstream into pools, sometimes move into smallmouth bass nests where they feed (Page 1983).

Reproduction

Spawns mainly early April-early June in Michigan and Missouri, February-May in Arkansas, November-May in Texas (Hubbs 1985). Sexually mature in 1 year (Page 1983). Age range of breeding females is 1-3 years (Bart and Page 1992).
Other Nations (1)
United StatesN5
ProvinceRankNative
OklahomaSNRYes
KansasS5Yes
TennesseeS5Yes
WyomingS1Yes
OhioS4Yes
MissouriSNRYes
ColoradoS3Yes
MichiganS1Yes
ArkansasS4Yes
IndianaS5Yes
IllinoisS5Yes
KentuckyS4Yes
NebraskaS4Yes
TexasS4Yes
IowaS2Yes
Threat Assessments
ThreatScopeSeverityTiming
No known threats

Roadless Areas (4)
Arkansas (4)
AreaForestAcres
Clifty CanyonOzark-St. Francis National Forest1,963
East ForkOzark-St. Francis National Forest13,037
PenhookOzark-St. Francis National Forest6,566
Richland CreekOzark-St. Francis National Forest571
References (27)
  1. Bart, H. L., Jr., and L. M. Page. 1992. The influence of size and phylogeny on life history variation in North American percids. Pages 553-572 in R.L. Mayden, editor. Systematics, historical ecology, and North American freshwater fishes. Stanford University Press, Stanford, California. xxvi + 969 pp.
  2. Burr, B. M., and M. L. Warren, Jr. 1986a. Distributional atlas of Kentucky fishes. Kentucky Nature Preserves Commission, Scientific and Technical Series No. 4, Frankfort, Kentucky. 398 pp.
  3. Ceas, P. A. 1997. Systematic studies of the orangethroat darter, <i>Etheostoma spectabile</i> complex (Percidae; subgenus <i>Oligocephalus</i>). Ph.D. thesis, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. viii + 157 pp.
  4. Ceas, P. A., and L. M. Page. 1997. Systematic studies of the <i>Etheostoma spectabile</i> complex (Percidae; subgenus <i>Oligocephalus</i>), with descriptions of four species. Copeia 1997:496-522.
  5. Cross, F. B., and J. T. Collins. 1995. Fishes in Kansas. Second Edition, revised. University of Kansas Museum of Natural History. xvii + 315 pp.
  6. Distler, D. A. 1968. Distribution and variation of <i>Etheostoma spectabile</i> (Agassiz) (Percidae:Teleostei). University of Kansas Science Bulletin 48(5):143-208.
  7. Eberle, Mark (Fort Hays State University, KS). 2000. Review and annotation of fish watershed distribution maps. Review requested by Anthony E. Zammit, ABI. April 2000.
  8. Etnier, D. A., and W. C. Starnes. 1993. The fishes of Tennessee. University of Tennessee Press, Knoxville, Tennessee. xiv + 681 pp.
  9. Harlan, J. R., E. B. Speaker, and J. Mayhew. 1987. Iowa fish and fishing. Iowa Conservation Commission, Des Moines, Iowa. 323 pp.
  10. Hrabik, Robert A. (Missouri Department of Conservation). 1997. Review and annotation of fish watershed distribution maps. Review requested by Ruth Mathews, TNC. May 1997.
  11. Hubbs, C. 1985. Darter reproductive seasons. Copeia 1985:56-68.
  12. Hubbs, C., F. B. Cross, and F. Stevens. 1988. Occurrence of natural hybrids between <i>Etheostoma</i> and <i>Percina</i> (Pisces: Percidae). Southwestern Naturalist 33:97-99.
  13. Kuehne, R. A., and R. W. Barbour. 1983. The American Darters. University Press of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky. 177 pp.
  14. Lang, Nicholas (Illinois Natural History Survey). 2000. Review and annotation of fish watershed distribution maps. Review requested by Anthony E. Zammit, ABI. March 2000.
  15. Lee, D. S., C. R. Gilbert, C. H. Hocutt, R. E. Jenkins, D. E. McAllister, and J. R. Stauffer, Jr. 1980. Atlas of North American freshwater fishes. North Carolina State Museum of Natural History, Raleigh, North Carolina. i-x + 854 pp.
  16. Matthews, William J. (Oklahoma Museum of Natural History, University of Oklahoma). 2000. Review and annotation of fish watershed distribution maps. Review requested by Anthony E. Zammit, ABI. June 2000.
  17. Page, L. M. 1983a. Handbook of Darters. T. F. H. Publications, Inc., Neptune City, New Jersey. 271 pp.
  18. Page, L. M. 1983b. Identification of the percids, <i>Boleosoma phlox</i> Cope and <i>Ioa vigil</i> Hay. Copeia 1983: 1082-1083.
  19. Page, L. M., and B. M. Burr. 1991. A field guide to freshwater fishes: North America north of Mexico. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, Massachusetts. 432 pp.
  20. Page, L. M., and B. M. Burr. 2011. Peterson field guide to freshwater fishes of North America north of Mexico. Second edition. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Boston. xix + 663 pp.
  21. Page, L. M., H. Espinosa-Pérez, L. T. Findley, C. R. Gilbert, R. N. Lea, N. E. Mandrak, R. L. Mayden, and J. S. Nelson. 2013. Common and scientific names of fishes from the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Seventh edition. American Fisheries Society, Special Publication 34, Bethesda, Maryland.
  22. Page, L. M., K. E. Bemis, T. E. Dowling, H.S. Espinosa-Pérez, L.T. Findley, C. R. Gilbert, K. E. Hartel, R. N. Lea, N. E. Mandrak, M. A. Neigbors, J. J. Schmitter-Soto, and H. J. Walker, Jr. 2023. Common and scientific names of fishes from the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Eighth edition. American Fisheries Society (AFS), Special Publication 37, Bethesda, Maryland, 439 pp.
  23. Pflieger, W. L. 1975. The fishes of Missouri. Missouri Department of Conservation. Columbia, Missouri. viii + 343 pp.
  24. Robins, C.R., R.M. Bailey, C.E. Bond, J.R. Brooker, E.A. Lachner, R.N. Lea, and W.B. Scott. 1991. Common and scientific names of fishes from the United States and Canada. American Fisheries Society, Special Publication 20. 183 pp.
  25. Robison, H. W. and T. M. Buchanan. 1988. Fishes of Arkansas. The University of Arkansas Press, Fayetteville, Arkansas. 536 pp.
  26. Smith, P. W. 1979. The fishes of Illinois. University of Illinois Press, Urbana. 314 pp.
  27. Trautman, M. B. 1981. The fishes of Ohio. Second edition. Ohio State University Press, Columbus, Ohio. 782 pp.