Life History of Pinewoods Darter 5 
Table 1. Ova classification of Etheostoma mariae from Naked Creek, North 
Carolina. 
Class 
Color 
Size range 
mm diameter (mean) 
Spawning status 
of ova 
I 
Yellow-orange with large 
oil globule (mean 0.6 mm 
dia., 0.5-0. 7 mm range) and 
transparent outer edge. 
1.4-1. 8 (1.6) 
Ripe and ready 
for spawning 
II 
Opaque yellow 
1. 3-1.6 (1.5) 
Maturing, will be 
ready for spawning 
in current season 
III 
Light yellow 
0.8-1. 2 (1.1) 
Will not mature 
during current 
spawning season 
IV 
White 
0.3-0. 7 (0.5) 
Will not mature 
during current 
spawning season 
focus to the middle of the anterior field on one representative scale per 
fish. Age (year class) was determined from a count of scale annuli. Since 
peak spawning was in April, May was designated as month one (Page 
1974). Age class 0 included young-of-the-year fish from 1 through 12 
months of age, age class 1 those from 13 through 24 months, and age 
class 2 those fish from 25 through 36 months. Because of the extended 
spawning season, the possibility of an aging error of as much as three to 
four months existed. However, since the vast majority of spawning 
occurred in April, we discounted this possibility. 
Based on examination of 321 stomachs, we determined the number 
and kinds of food items in five size groups of fish (< 20 mm, 20-29 mm, 
30-39 mm, 40-49 mm, > 49 mm), and the percent occurrence of food by 
month. 
Locality data for E. mariae were obtained from Richards (1963), 
from the fish collections at the University of North Carolina at Char- 
lotte, and from collections at the North Carolina State Museum of Nat- 
ural History. During our study additional sites were sampled through- 
out the known range of E. mariae to document distribution and 
population sizes. Specimens from these collections were not used to 
obtain life history data. 
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 
Reproduction . — Spawning occurred from April through July with an 
April and May peak (Fig. 2). Water temperature during the spawning 
