Paper Topic:

POSSIBILITY OF LISTING THE RUSH DARTER TO THE ENDANGERED SPECIES LIST

The Possibility of Listing the Rush Darter to the Endangered Species List

The North American freshwater bodies are a habitat of small fishes known as darters . These endemic fishes belong to the genus Etheostoma the name coined from the assemblage of two Greek words etheo meaning to strain ' and stroma referring to mouth , and was described further by Rafinesque (1819 ) as having various mouths ' but might be intended to imply as Heterostoma according to Jordan and Evermann ADDIN EN .CITE EschmeyerW .N EschmeyerEli AgbayaniEtheostomaEtheos toma2006May 8 2007http

/www .fishb ase .se /Eschmeyer /GeneraSummary .cfm ?ID EtheostomaCatalog of FishesCalifornia Academy of SciencesMay 31 2006 (Eschmeyer "Etheostoma . The genus belong to the class of ray-finned fishes or Actinopterygii and under Perciformes that include around 40 of all fish species and are the largest of all vertebrate s . Most of the darters excrete Schreckstoff substances , which are actually pheromones that serve as a warning to nearby fishes in events of attack . The substance is produced from the goblet cells in the skin and is released upon mechanical damage to the fish

One of the recent species of concerns regarding the species members under the Etheostoma genus are the Etheostoma phytophilum Bart and Taylor , commonly known as rush darters . The species name is coined from the Greek words phyto meaning plant or vegetation ' and philo meaning to love ' or loving . It is a member of the subgenus Fuscatelum (Bart and Taylor . Morphologically , rush darters are perch-like in appearance and grow at around 2 to 3 inches in length . It is color khaki in life (light yellowish brown ) to golden brown with a pattern of gray-brown pigment overlaying a yellowish to golden ground color . There are also diffuse brown pigments of the body that gives the sides a brown cast or producing a dense mottling of brown that dissipates on the back and the abdominal area (Bart and Taylor . The species is also rare and was actually not distinctly classified since it was mistaken to be a northern variant of the goldstripe darter (Etheostoma parvipinne ADDIN EN .CITE ConnellLuke ConnellAlabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources 64 N . Union Street Suite 468 - Montgomery , Alabama 36130Tiny fish nets spot on state apos s protected species list : Rush darter is found in only two places 2004May 8 2007http /www .outdo oralabama .com /fishing /freshwater /articles-outside /rushdarter .cfm (Connell . The distinct gold-stripe typical of E . parvipinne is never developed in the rush darter (Bart and Taylor . A very narrow strip maybe depigmented along the anterior portion of the lateral line , above the midlateral dashes

In terms of habitat and behavior rush darters are benthopelagic meaning that they dwell on the mid-level to the bottoms of waters specifically in small streams and spring runs . They also feed on benthic and free-swimming organisms ADDIN EN .CITE EschmeyerW .N Eschmeyer2006 (Eschmeyer "Estheostoma Phytophilum

Today , this fish species is endemic in only two places in the world both of which located in the State of Alabama : a population in an unnamed...

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