SREL Reprint #2423

Comparison of Lipid Levels during Spawning in Annual and Perennial Darters of the Subgenus Boleosoma, Etheostoma perlongum, and Etheostoma olmstedi

David L. Schultz

University of Georgia, Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, Drawer E, Aiken, South Carolina 29802

Abstract: Etheostoma perlongum, the Waccamaw darter, is an annual species, and most adults die soon after spawning. This study compared the body composition of the Waccamaw darter to a close relative, E. olmstedi, the tessellated darter, during the spawning season. Tessellated darters are perennial, some live three years. Lipid composition of both species was quantified as the proportion of the body that could be extracted in petroleum ether. Nonlipid composition was quantified as the residual of a regression of lean dry mass on standard length. Change in lipid and nonlipid composition was followed through the spawning season. Differences in body composition were consistent with life-history differences. Waccamaw darters had less lipid in their bodies through the spawning season and some depleted nonlipid material. Tessellated darters were more conservative of lipid and few depleted nonlipid material. At the same time that adult Waccamaw darters had highly depleted bodies, their young were in good condition. Adult Waccamaw darters appear to be actively allocating lipid and nonlipid material to reproduction rather than to maintenance or storage. Mean lipid levels in Waccamaw darters during spawning were comparable to lipid levels associated with death in other fish species. The conditions required for a semelparous annual life history and the conditions that select for an iteroparous life history are discussed relative to the habitat and biology of both species.

SREL Reprint #2423

Schultz, D.L. 1999. Comparison of lipid levels during spawning in annual and perennial darters of the subgenus Boleosoma, Etheostoma perlongum, and Etheostoma olmstedi. Copeia 4:906-916.

This information was provided by the University of Georgia's Savannah River Ecology Laboratory (srel.uga.edu).