Fishes of Texas

A Virtual Museum on the State's Fish Biodiversity

Harlequin Darter  

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Paralectotype for Etheostoma (Ulocentra) histrio Jordan & Gilbert
Catalog Number: USNM 36448
Collection: Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History, Department of Vertebrate Zoology, Division of Fishes
Collector(s): D. Jordan & C. Gilbert
Locality: Saline River, Benton, Arkansas, Arkansas, United States, North America

  • Paralectotype: Collette, B. B. & Knapp, L. W. 1967. Proceedings of the United States National Museum. 119 (3550): 29.
Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
Rights holder/AuthorThis image was obtained from the Smithsonian Institution. Unless otherwise noted, this image or its contents may be protected by international copyright laws.
Sourcehttp://collections.mnh.si.edu/search/fishes/?irn=5006815

Least Concern (LC)

  • IUCN 2006 2006 IUCN red list of threatened species. www.iucnredlist.org. Downloaded July 2006.
Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/
Rights holder/AuthorRainer Froese, FishBase
Sourcehttp://www.fishbase.org/summary/SpeciesSummary.php?id=3427

Habitat and Ecology:

Habitat and Ecology

Habitat includes sand and gravel runs of small to medium rivers (Page and Burr 2011). Above the Fall Line this darter occurs most often in riffles with coarse gravel substrate; in lowland streams, it often occurs over sand among brush and detritus where logjams have created strong mid-stream currents.

Systems

  • Freshwater
Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/
Rights holder/Author© International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources
Sourcehttp://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/202489

Degree of Threat: B : Moderately threatened throughout its range, communities provide natural resources that when exploited alter the composition and structure of the community over the long-term, but are apparently recoverable

Comments: Threats include habitat destruction or modification such as river channelization and pollution.

Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/
Rights holder/AuthorNatureServe
Sourcehttp://explorer.natureserve.org/servlet/NatureServe?searchName=Etheostoma+histrio

Habitat Type: Freshwater

Comments: Habitat includes sand and gravel runs of small to medium rivers (Page and Burr 2011). Above the Fall Line this darter occurs most often in riffles with coarse gravel substrate; in lowland streams, it often occurs over sand among brush and detritus where logjams have created strong mid-stream currents.

Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/
Rights holder/AuthorHammerson, G., NatureServe
Sourcehttp://explorer.natureserve.org/servlet/NatureServe?searchName=Etheostoma+histrio

Conservation Actions:

Conservation Actions

Research is needed on the ecology of the species, especially habitat requirements. Better information is needed on current distribution and abundance. Species would benefit from increased protection of occupied waters.
Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/
Rights holder/Author© International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources
Sourcehttp://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/202489

Biology:

Inhabits sand and gravel runs of small to medium rivers, usually near debris (Ref. 5723, 10294). Feeds on midge, blackfly, and caddisfly larvae, and mayfly nymphs (Ref. 10294).

  • 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)
Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/
Rights holder/AuthorRainer Froese, FishBase
Sourcehttp://www.fishbase.org/summary/SpeciesSummary.php?id=3427

Environment:

benthopelagic; freshwater

Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/
Rights holder/AuthorRainer Froese, FishBase
Sourcehttp://www.fishbase.org/summary/SpeciesSummary.php?id=3427

Biological Research Needs: Research is needed on the ecology of the species, especially habitat requirements.

Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/
Rights holder/AuthorNatureServe
Sourcehttp://explorer.natureserve.org/servlet/NatureServe?searchName=Etheostoma+histrio

Range Description:

This species is scattered throughout lower Mississippi River tributaries west (in the Red and Arkansas river drainages to eastern Oklahoma and eastern Texas, and north to southeastern Missouri, southern Illinois, and western Kentucky; it also occurs in isolated areas in the Wabash River drainage, Illinois and Indiana, and Green River system, Kentucky; this darter also occurs in Gulf Coast drainages from Escambia River, Alabama and Florida, to Neches River, Texas (Page and Burr 2011).

Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/
Rights holder/Author© International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources
Sourcehttp://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/202489
Scratchpads developed and conceived by (alphabetical): Ed Baker, Katherine Bouton Alice Heaton Dimitris Koureas, Laurence Livermore, Dave Roberts, Simon Rycroft, Ben Scott, Vince Smith