PHYLUM:
Chordata; CLASS: Osteichthyes SUPERORDER: Teleostei
FAMILY: Percidae; SUB-FAMILY:
Etheostomatinae
GENUS: Etheostoma; SPECIES: exile; DESCRIBER:
(Girard)
Position
of Etheostoma
exile in
worldwide arrangement of fish species.
What
are IOWA
DARTERS?
Iowa
Darters are small, 50 mm (2 in), slightly laterally
compressed minnow– shaped fish of the family Percidae,
sub-family Etheostomatnae.They are dark brown and/or
olive-brown on their backs and sides. They
occur from Alberta to southern Québec in lakes
and rivers. Iowa Darters eat
insect larvae and nymphs, snails and amphipods. (See: Fishbase)
EARLY
LIFE HISTORY of IOWA
DARTERS:
Spawning
Season of Adult IOWA DARTERS: Late spring to early
summer, late April to June.
Where IOWA DARTER Eggs are Found: Eggs of
IOWA DARTERS are laid among aquatic plants, fibrous
roots, organic debris, stones, pebbles and even sand
in shallow water 10 cm to 100 cm deep. They prefer
undercut banks or under rocks when available. Females
move into shallow water, where territories of males
have been established, to deposit eggs in several
clumps of ca. 250 eggs each.
Characteristics
of Eggs: The eggs of IOWA DARTERS are undescribed,
except the diameters of preserved eggs average 1.1
mm.
Size
of Babies at Hatching: Babies
hatch at 3.4 to 4 mm at 18 to 26 days of incubation.
Movements of IOWA DARTER Babies after hatching: Baby
IOWA DARTERS hatch among aquatic plants in shallow
water but quickly swim away from shallow water and
inhabit open-water, limnetic nursery grounds. They
were regularly caught with
fine-mesh townets in certain areas near the surface
and adjacent to large beds of aquatic plants in depths
of 2-5 m. They were not schooling, per
se,
but were swimming in large aggregations which could
be found in the same place, day after day (Refs.
17, 42).
