You are here
Fishes of Texas taxonomy
Etheostoma fonticola
EOL Text
United States
Origin: Native
Regularity: Regularly occurring
Currently: Present
Confidence: Confident
Type of Residency: Year-round
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | NatureServe |
Source | http://explorer.natureserve.org/servlet/NatureServe?searchName=Etheostoma+fonticola |
Feeding is heaviest during the day (Ref. 7043).
- Page, L. 1983 Handbook of darters. T.F.H. Publications, Inc. USA. 271 p. (Ref. 7043)
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | Susan M. Luna, FishBase |
Source | No source database. |
Endangered (EN) (B1ab(iii,v)+2ab(iii,v))
- IUCN 2006 2006 IUCN red list of threatened species. www.iucnredlist.org. Downloaded July 2006.
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | Rainer Froese, FishBase |
Source | http://www.fishbase.org/summary/SpeciesSummary.php?id=3422 |
Global Range: (<100 square km (less than about 40 square miles)) This darter is endemic to the upper San Marcos and Comal rivers in central Texas (Hubbs et al. 2008). San Marcos and Comal rivers are spring-fed streams deriving from the Edwards Aquifer. The original population in the Comal River was extirpated in the mid-1950s when Comal Springs ceased to flow (Hubbs et al. 2008). A population from San Marcos was reintroduced into Comal Springs during the early 1970s (Hubbs et al. 2008).
During periods of low flows, the National Fish Hatchery and Technology Center in San Marcos, Texas, serves as a refugium (Bonner and McDonald 2005).
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | NatureServe |
Source | http://explorer.natureserve.org/servlet/NatureServe?searchName=Etheostoma+fonticola |
Comments: Diet includes immature insects and microcrustaceans; feeding is heaviest during daylight hours (Page 1983).
Degree of Threat: Very high - medium
Comments: Primary threats include (1) reduction of spring flows that may result from drought and water withdrawals from the Edwards Aquifer (Bonner and McDonald 2005) and (2) negative impacts of introduced non-native species (a parasitic, non-native trematode afflicts the Comal population, but the population impact is uncertain). USFWS (1990) stated that the species is also threatened by a severe loss of vegetation in Comal Springs, possibly caused by an exotic snail (USFWS 1990).
Jelks et al. (2008) categorized this species as Endangered, due to (1) present or threatened destruction, modification, or reduction of habitat or range; (2) disease or parasitism; (3) other natural or anthropogenic factors that affect a taxon's existence, including impacts of nonindigenous organisms, hybridization, competition, and/or predation; and (4) restricted range
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | NatureServe |
Source | http://explorer.natureserve.org/servlet/NatureServe?searchName=Etheostoma+fonticola |
North America: found only in San Marcos and Comal springs and their effluent rivers (Guadalupe River system) in southern central Texas, USA.
- Page, L.M. and B.M. Burr 1991 A field guide to freshwater fishes of North America north of Mexico. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston. 432 p. (Ref. 5723)
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | Rainer Froese, FishBase |
Source | http://www.fishbase.org/summary/SpeciesSummary.php?id=3422 |
Note: For many non-migratory species, occurrences are roughly equivalent to populations.
Estimated Number of Occurrences: 1 - 5
Comments: This species is represented by two occurrences.
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | NatureServe |
Source | http://explorer.natureserve.org/servlet/NatureServe?searchName=Etheostoma+fonticola |
Conservation Actions
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | © International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources |
Source | http://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/8114 |
Historic Range:
U.S.A. (TX)