Synopsis
Darters feed on small benthic organisms, primarily insects, and evolutionarily have become increasingly small and benthic; most species are less than 80mm in standard length. Constraints on decreasing body size include living in midwater and territoriality. Lineages of darters have arisen as new habitats were invaded. Consequently, members of different lineages often vary in characteristics correlated with specific habitat variables. While competition from established taxa undoubtedly has prevented additional habitat invasions, some darters appear to have overcome these barriers through feeding site diversification. Living in various habitats has lead to a variety of reproductive strategies, termed egg-burying, -attaching, -clumping, and -clustering. Sexually selective characteristics, correlated with type of reproductive behavior and habitat, often make the male more conspicuous and therefore are constrained by predation.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References cited
Alexander, R.M. 1967. Functional design in fishes. Hutchinson University Library, London. 160 pp.
Bailey, R.M & W.A. Gosline. 1955. Variation and systematic significance of vertebral counts in the American fishes of the family Percidae. Misc. Publ. Mus. Zool. Univ. Mich. 93: 1–44.
Baker, J.A. & S.T. Ross. 1981. Spatial and temporal resource utilization by southeastern cyprinids. Copeia 1981:178–189.
Balon, E.K. 1975. Reproductive guilds of fishes: a proposal and definition. J. Fish. Res. Board Can. 32: 821–864.
Balon, E.K. 1981. Additions and amendments to the classification of reproductive styles in fishes. En v. Biol. Fish. 6: 377–389.
Balon, E.K., W.T. Momot & H.A. Regier. 1977. Reproductive guilds of percids: results of the paleogeographical history and ecological succession. J. Fish. Res. Board Can. 34:1910–1921.
Barlow, G.W. 1972. The attitude of fish eye-lines in relation to body shape and to stripes and bars. Copeia 1972: 4–12.
Bruun, A.F. 1940. A study of a collection of the fish Schindleria from south Pacific Waters. Dana. Rep. 21:1–12.
Burr, B.M. & L.M. Page. 1978. The life history of the cypress darter, Etheostoma proeliare, in Max Creek, Illinois. Ill. Nat. Hist. Surv. Biol. Notes 106:1–15.
Burr, B.M. & L.M. Page. 1979. The life history of the least darter, Etheostoma microperca, in the Iroquois River, Illinois. Ill. Nat. Hist. Surv. Biol. Notes 112:1–15.
Collette, B.B. 1962. The swamp darters of the subgenus Hololepis (Pisces, Percidae). Tulane Stud. Zool. 9:115–211.
Collette, B.B. 1965. Systematic significance of breeding tubercles in fishes of the family Percidae. Proc. U.S. Nat. Mus. 117: 567–614.
Cooley, W.W. & P.R. Lohnes. 1971. Multivariate data analysis. Wiley, New York. 364 pp.
Cross, F.B. 1967. Handbook of fishes of Kansas. Misc. Publ. Mus. Nat. Hist. Univ. Kan. 45:1–357.
Distler, D.A. 1972. Observations on the reproductive habits of captive Etheostoma cragini Gilbert. Southwest. Nat. 16: 439–441.
Dixon, W.J., M.B. Brown, L. Engelman, J.W. Frane, M.A. Hill, R.I. Jennrich & J.D. Toporek. 1981. BMDP statistical software. University of California Press, Berkeley. 725 pp.
Estes, R.D. 1974. Social organization of the African Bovidae. pp. 106–205. In: V. Geist & F. Walther (ed.) Behavior of Ungulates and its Relation to Management, IUCN, Morges.
Fahy, W.E. 1954. The life history of the northern greenside darter, Etheostoma blennioides blennioides Rafinesque. J. Elisha Mitchell Sci. Soc. 70:139–205.
Forbes, S.A. & R.E. Richardson. 1908. The fishes of Illinois. Illinois Natural History Survey, Urbana. 357 pp.
Gould, S.J. & R.C. Lewontin. 1979. The spandrels of San Marco and the Panglossian paradigm: a critique of the adaptationist programme. Proc. R. Soc. London Biol. Sci. 205: 581–598.
Harris, R.J. 1975. A primer of multivariate statistics. Wiley, New York. 332 pp.
Hemmingsen, A.M. 1934. A statistical analysis of the differences in body size of related species. Videnskabelige Meddelselsen Dansk Naturhistorisk Farening Kobenhaven 98: 125–160.
Hynes, H.B.N. 1970. The ecology of running waters. University of Toronto Press, Toronto. 555 pp.
Jaksic, F.M. 1981. Recognition of morphological adaptations in animals: the hypothetico-deductive method. Bioscience 31: 667–670.
Jordan, D.S. & B.W. Evermann. 1896. The fishes of North and Middle America: a descriptive catalog of the species of fishlike vertebrates found in the waters of North America, north of the Isthmus of Panama. U.S. Natl. Mus. Bull. 47:1–1240.
Keast, A. & D. Webb. 1966. Mouth and body form relative to feeding ecology in the fish fauna of a small lake, Lake Opinicon, Ontario. J. Fish. Res. Board Can. 23:1845–1874.
Keenleyside, M.H.A. 1979. Diversity and adaptation in fish behavior. Springer-Verlag, New York. 208 pp.
Kerr, S.R. 1971. Prediction of fish growth efficiency in nature. J. Fish. Res. Board Can. 28: 809–814.
Kirchner, T.B., R.V. Anderson & R.E. Ingham. 1980. Natural selection and the distribution of nematode sizes. Ecology 61: 232–237.
Knapp, L.W. 1976. Redescription, relationships and status of the Maryland darter, Etheostoma sellare (Radcliffe and Welsh), an endangered species. Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash. 89: 99–118.
Kuehne, R.A. & J.W. Small, Jr. 1971. Etheostoma barbouri, a new darter (Percidae, Etheostomatini) from the Green River with notes on the subgenus Catonotus. Copeia 1971:18–26.
Lee, D.S. & R.E. Ashton, Jr. 1979. Seasonal and daily activity patterns of the glassy darter, Etheostoma vitreum (Percidae). ASB (Assoc. Southeast. Biol.) Bull. 26: 36.
Lee, D.S., C.R. Gilbert, C.H. Hocutt, R.E. Jenkins, D.E. McAllister & J.R. Stauffer, Jr. 1980. Atlas of North American freshwater fishes. N.C. State Mus. Nat. Hist., Raleigh. 867 pp.
Lowenstein, O. 1957. The sense organs: the acousticolateralis system, pp. 155–186. In: M.E. Brown (ed.) The Physiology of Fishes, Academic Press, New York.
McMillan, V.E. & R.J.F. Smith. 1974. Agonistic and reproductive behavior of the fathead minnow (Pimephales promelas Rafinesque). Z. Tierpsychol. 34: 25–58.
Mendelson, J. 1975. Feeding relationships among species of Notropis (Pisces: Cyprinidae) in a Wisconsin stream. Ecol. Monogr. 45: 199–230.
Miller, P.J. 1979. Adaptiveness and implications of small size in teleosts. pp. 163–306. In: P.J. Miller (ed.) Fish Phenology: Anabolic Adaptiveness in Teleosts, Academic Press, London.
Mount, D.I. 1959. Spawning behavior of the bluebreast darter, Etheostoma camurum (Cope). Copeia 1959: 240–243.
Page, L.M. 1974. The life history of the spottail darter, Etheostoma squamiceps, in Big Creek, Illinois, and Ferguson Creek, Kentucky. Ill. Nat. Hist. Surv. Biol. Notes 89:1–20.
Page, L.M. 1975. Relations among the darters of the subgenus Catonotus of Etheostoma. Copeia 1975: 782–784.
Page, L.M. 1976. The modified midventral scales of Percina (Osteichthyes; Percidae). J. Morph. 148: 255–264.
Page, L.M. 1977. The lateralis system of darters (Etheostomatini). Copeia 1977: 472–475.
Page, L.M. 1981. The genera and subgenera of darters (Percidae, Etheostomatini). Occ. Pap. Mus. Nat. Hist. Univ. Kansas 90: 1–69.
Page, L.M. 1983. The handbook of darters. T.F.H. Publications, Neptune City. 271 pp.
Page, L.M., M.E. Retzer & R.A. Stiles. 1982. Spawning behavior in seven species of darters (Pisces: Percidae). Brimleyana 8:135–143.
Pflieger, W.L. 1978. Distribution, status, and life history of the Niangua darter, Etheostoma nianguae. Mo. Dept. Conserv. Aquatic Ser. 16: 1–25.
Pimentel, R.A. 1979. Morphometries: the multivariate analysis of biological data. Kendall/Hunt Publ. Co., Dubuque. 276 pp.
Raney, E.C. & E.A. Lachner. 1939. Observations on the life history of the spottail darter, Poecilichthys maculatus (Kirtland). Copeia 1939: 157–165.
Ricker, W.E. 1973. Linear regressions in fishery research. J. Fish. Res. Board Can. 30: 409–434.
Schenck, J.R. & B.G. Whiteside. 1977. Food habits and feeding behavior of the fountain darter, Etheostoma fonticola (Osteichthyes: Percidae). Southwest. Nat. 21: 487–492.
Schoener, T. W. 1971. Theory of feeding strategies. Ann. Rev. Ecol. Syst. 2: 369–404.
Smith, R. J.F. 1979. Alarm reaction of Iowa and johnny darters (Etheostoma, Percidae, Pisces) to chemicals from injured conspecifics. Can. J. Zool. 57: 1278–1282.
Smith, R.J.F. & B.D. Murphy. 1974. Functional morphology of the dorsal pad in fathead minnows (Pimephales promelas Rafinesque). Trans. Amer. Fish. Soc. 103: 65–72.
Stiles, R.A. 1972. The comparative ecology of three species of Nothonotus (PercidaQ-Etheostoma) in Tennessee’s Little River. Ph.D. Thesis, University of Tennessee, Knoxville. 97 pp.
Strawn, K. 1956. A method of breeding and raising three Texas darters. Part II. Aquarium J. 27:12–14,17, 31–32.
Surat, E.M., W.J. Matthews & R.J. Bek. 1982. Comparative ecology of Notropis albeolus, N. ardens and N. cerasinus (Cyprinidae) in the upper Roanoke River drainage, Virginia. Amer. Midi. Nat. 107: 13–24.
Thomas, D.L. 1970. An ecological study of four darters of the genus Percina (Percidae) in the Kaskaskia River, Illinois. Ill. Nat. Hist. Surv. Biol. Notes 70: 1–18.
Trautman, M.B. 1948. A natural hybrid catfish, Schilbeodes miurus x Schilbeodes mollis. Copeia 1948:166–174.
Trautman, M.B. 1981. The fishes of Ohio. Ohio State University Press, Columbus. 782 pp.
Wehnes, R.A. 1973. The food and feeding interrelationships of five sympatric darter species (Pisces: Percidae) in Salt Creek, Hocking County, Ohio. M.Sc. Thesis, Ohio State University, Columbus. 79 pp.
Wickler, W. 1962. ‘Egg dummies’ as natural releasers in mouth-breeding cichlids. Nature, Lond. 194: 1092–1093.
Wiley, M.L. & B.B. Collette. 1970. Breeding tubercles and contact organs in fishes: their occurrence, structure, and significance. Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist. 143: 143–216.
Williams, J.D. 1975. Systematics of the percid fishes of the subgenus Ammocrypta, genus Ammocrypta, with descriptions of two new species. Bull. Ala. Mus. Nat. Hist. 1:1–56.
Winn, H.E. 1958. Comparative reproductive behavior and ecology of fourteen species of darters (Pisces-Percidae). Ecol. Monogr. 18: 155–191.
Winn, H.E. & A.R. Picciolo. 1960. Communal spawning of the glassy darter Etheostoma vitreum (Cope). Copeia 1960:186–192.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1984 Dr W. Junk Publishers, The Hague
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Page, L.M., Swofford, D.L. (1984). Morphological correlates of ecological specialization in darters. In: Lindquist, D.G., Page, L.M. (eds) Environmental biology of darters. Developments in environmental biology of fishes, vol 4. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-6548-5_12
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-6548-5_12
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-009-6550-8
Online ISBN: 978-94-009-6548-5
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive