Greenside Darter
Geography: Canada, Ontario: Lambton County, Warwick Township. Bear Creek, 8 km NNW of Watford, 60-80 m upstream of bridge
Date: 4 August 1997
Dimensions:total length=82 mm
Taxonomy
- Attributes
- Objects
- Taxonomy
- Kingdom:
Animalia
- Phylum:
Chordata
- Class:
Actinopterygii (ray-finned fishes)
- Order:
Perciformes
- Family:
Percidae
- Genus:
Etheostoma
- SpecificEpithet:
blennioides
Object number: 70766
DescriptionThe Greenside Darter, Etheostoma blennioides, is a small member of the perch family, and grows to about 14 cm long. The green V-shaped marks on the sides are characteristic of this darter species. The Greenside Darter prefers clear, swift-flowing streams and rivers. This species has no swim bladder and so is not very buoyant and spends most of its time on the bottom where it feeds on insect larvae, including midges. In spring, eggs are laid on filamentous algae attached to rocks in riffle areas of streams. The Greenside Darter is found in east-central North America, ranging from New York west to Kansas and south to Mississippi and Alabama. In Canada, it only occurs in southwestern Ontario where it has been reported from numerous drainages. It was introduced to the Grand River watershed in the early 1990s and has spread through much of the system.