12 



Pcrcina macidala, may possibly compete for the common 

 fooci supply. 



Although the spawning sites of some of the species 

 associated with the slovigh darter are not known, there 

 appeared to be no interspecific competition for spawning 

 sites. Ethcostoma chlorosomum presumably has the same 

 spawning habitat, but it appears to breed several weeks 

 before E. gracile. 



Predation and Parasitism 



Tlie slough darter, occupying water of usually high 

 turbidity in Dismal Creek, seems to be rather free from 

 predation. Its quick movements and reluctance to move 

 far from cover make it more difficult to catch than min- 

 nows, topminnows, tadpoles, and small crayfish, all ol 

 which abound in Dismal Creek. 



In the stomach analyses of sunfishes and other po- 

 tential predators from Dismal Creek no darters of any 

 kind were found; however, specimens of both E. gracile 

 and chlorosomum were taken from the stomach of a 

 warmouth, Chaenobryttus gulosus (Cuvicr). from a 

 stream in Perry County, Illinois. It is likely that preda- 

 tion pressure on the slough darter depends on the avail- 

 ability of other, more easily caught species. 



In other streams predation may be important in con- 

 trolling population size. Collette (1962:169) cited a 

 series of earlier papers indicating that the related E. jusi- 



forme is quite \ulnerable to predation by Esox niger 

 Lesueur and Micropterus salmoides (Lacepedei, and one 

 observation that 25 percent of the food of young Esox 

 niger consisted of Ethcostoma fusiforme. 



Although no special effort was made to study para- 

 sitism, casual obser\ations were made on parasites during 

 the routine examination of specimens. The slough dart- 

 ers in Dismal Creek had an extremely high incidence 

 (approximately 90 percent) of parasitism by a small 

 fluke, Crcpidostomum Pisostomum Hopkins (family AUo- 

 creadiidae ) . Darters presumably are infected by the 

 intermediate host, a mayfly nymph. 



This fluke has previously been known from the log- 

 perch, Pcrcina caprodcs (Rafinesque), and the trout- 

 perch, Pcrcopsis omiscomaycus (VValbaum), fishes that 

 also live on mud bottoms of quiet pools. Certain slough 

 darters, when examined, had three or four flukes in the 

 stomach and intestine, but none of the parasitized darters 

 appeared emaciated, weak, or othenvise in bad condition. 

 An occasional nematode was found; the rate of infec- 

 tion was probably less than 1 percent. 



Slough darters from other localities sometimes are 

 parasitized by the ectoparasitic copepods (Siphonosto- 

 mata, probably Lernaeidae). Collette (1962:169—170) 

 commented that glochidia and acanthocephalans on and 

 in E. fusiforme were the only parasites of the subgenus 

 Hololcpis known at the time of his work on the group. 



LITERATURE CITED 



Bailev, Reeve M. 1951. A check-list of the fishes of Iowa, 

 with keys for identification, p. 185-238. In James R. Har- 

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 State Conservation Commission, [Des Moines]. 



Blair, Albert P. 1959. Distribution of the darters (Percidae, 

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 NaturaHst 4(1) :1-13. 



Collette, Bruce B. 1962. The swamp darters of the sub- 

 genus Hololepis (Pisces, Percidae). Tulane Studies in 

 Zoology 9(4): 115-211. 



■ — . 1965. Systematic significance of breeding tubercles 



in fishes of the family Percidae. Proceedings of the U.S. 

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Fahv, William E. 1954. The life history of ihe northern 

 greenside darter, Etheostoma blennioides blennioides Rafi- 

 nesque. Journal of the Elisha Mitchell Scientific Society 

 70(2): 139-205. 



Fletcher, .'Xlan M. 1957. .\ rare darter-spawning. .Vquari- 

 um 26(6): 202-203. 



Forbes, Stephen Alfred. 1878. The food of Illinois fishes. 

 Bulletin of the Illinois State L<aboratory of Natural History 

 l(2):71-89. 



— . 1880. The food of fishes. Bulletin of the Illinois 



State Laboratory of Natural History 1(3) : 18-65. 



, and RoBr.RT Earl Richardson. 1920. The fishes 



of Illinois. 2nd ed. Illinois Natural History Surrey. 



cx.\xvi -f 357 p. 

 Gkrking, Shelby D. 1945. The distribution of the fishes of 



Indiana. Investigations of Indiana Lakes and Streams 



3:1-137. 

 Gilbert, Charle.s H. 1884. Notes on the fishes of the Switz 



City swamp, Greene County, Indiana. Proceedings of the 



U.S. National Museum 7:206-210. 

 GiRARD, Charles. 1859. Ichthyological notices. Proceedings 



of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 1859: 



100-104. 

 Hay, O. P. 1882. On a collection of fishes from the lower 



Mississippi valley. Bulletin of the U.S. Fish Commission 



2:57-75. 

 Hubbs, Carl L., and Mott Dwight Cannon. 1935. The 



darters of the genera Hololepis and Villora. University 



of Michigan Museum of Zoology Miscellaneous Publication 



30. 93 p. 

 MoLNT, Donald I. 1959. Spawning behavior of the blue- 

 breast darter, Etheostoma camurum (Cope). Copeia 1959 



(3): 240-243. 

 New, John G. 1966. Reproductive behavior of the shield 



darter, Pcrcina pcttata pcltata. in New York. Copeia 1966 



(l):20-28. 

 Winn, Howard E. 1958. Comparative reproductive behavior 



and ecology of fourteen species of darters (Pisces-Pcrcidae). 



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(38366— 4M— 6-67) 



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