SHARPHEAD DARTER Etheostoma acuticeps (Bailey, 1959) 



Order: PERCIFORMES Family: PERCIDAE 



Significance : This species is of interest to ichthyologists as only six specimens have 

 ever been collected. 



Distinguishing characteristics : This species has an extremely sharply pointed snout 

 and head and a short deep body. The head and nape are scaleless, blue-green and pale 

 green fins , and dark horizontal bands between the scale rows . 



Present distribution : The known specimens were collected in 1947 and 1949 in the South 

 Fork of the Holston River, altitude about 1,490 feet, approximately one-half mile above 

 the South Holston Dam (during construction, hence prior to impoundment), seven miles 

 southeast of Bristol, Sullivan County, Tennessee. 



Former distribution : Unknown . 



Status : Extremely jeopardized and probably extinct. 



Estimated numbers : Unknown. None taken since 1949 . 



Fecundity : Unknown . 



Reasons for decline : Flooding of the habitat by the impoundment of the river behind 

 the South Holston Dam. 



Measures proposed : Continued search for the species elsewhere. 



Number in captivity : None . 



Culture potential in captivity : Unknown . 



Remarks : Data submitted by Dr. William J. Richards, Bureau of Commercial Fisheries, 

 Washington, D.C. Dr. R. R. Miller reports (1967) species extinct. 



Reference : 



Baily, R. M. 1959. Etheostoma acuticeps , a new darter from the Tennessee 



River system, with remarks on the subgenus Nothonotus , Occ . Pap. Mus . Zool . 

 Univ. Mich. (603) pp. 1-11. 



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