Plains Orangethroat Darter
Plains Orangethroat Darter
Etheostoma spectibile
Etheostoma spectibile
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Population, Conservation Status, Threats:
Considered least concern by the IUCN, with populations that appear to be stable. In Colorado, they are listed as a species of concern, due to groundwater depletion in their Colorado range. They are also threatened by pollution from agricultural runoff.
Physical Description:
Orangethroat darters are a species of small brightly-colored fish with large fanning dorsal fins. While females are primarily speckled yellow-brown, breeding males develop brilliant orange and blue coloration across their body and fins, with distinct vertical striping along the tail and sides.
Plains orangethroat darter range from the IUCN Red List. Extant populations are represented in yellow, and areas where the darter has been extirpated are in red.
Habitat:
Plains orangethroat darters live in small freshwater creeks, runs and streams with clear waters, rocky substrate, and slow-to-moderate currents.
Behavior:
These darters are most active during the daytime, and unlike other species of fish, spend their time on the bottoms of riverbeds rather than up in the current.
Diet:
They feed on small aquatic invertebrates, especially aquatic insect larvae and crustaceans.
Reproduction:
Orangethroat darters reproduce in the early spring in slow-flowing waters, and fertilized eggs are mixed into the gravel substrate during spawning. Eggs hatch in 9-10 days, and while the young receive no parental care, they may move into the nests of smallmouth bass; while the male bass ferociously guard their own eggs, they also incidentally provide protection to the darter fry, who are not predated upon by the bass - presumably because they are too small to be worth eating.
Associated Species:
Plains orangethroat darters take advantage of smallmouth bass nests when young. Many species of fishing birds such as kingfishers predate upon darters. Darters themselves are apparently especially fond of eating midge larvae.
Illustration by Willow Sedam
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