Rediscovery of the Sharphead Darter, Etheostoma acuticeps , in 
North Carolina (Pisces: Percidae) 
Richard T. Bryant, James P. Beets and Michael G. Ryon 
Graduate Program in Ecology, University of Tennessee, 
Knoxville, Tennessee 37916 
ABSTRACT. — Etheostoma (Nothonotus) acuticeps , the Sharphead darter, 
was known prior to October 1975 on the basis of only 37 specimens from 
the South Fork Holston River, Tennessee, and the North Toe River, 
North Carolina. The populations at all of these localities are either ex- 
tremely tenuous or extirpated by impoundments and strip mining 
runoff. In 1975 a TVA field crew discovered a healthy population in the 
lower Nolichucky River below Davy Crockett Reservoir. A search of the 
upper tributaries of the Nolichucky revealed a small population in the 
lower 6 km of the Cane River, North Carolina. The Sharphead darter 
inhabits the swiftest portion of riffles in water 15-40 cm deep. The sub- 
strate is typically cobble and small boulders 8-20 cm in diameter, well 
covered with riverweed, Podostemum ceratophyllum. Because of the small 
size of the Cane River population and various threats to the water 
quality of the river, the Sharphead darter warrants endangered status in 
North Carolina. 
INTRODUCTION 
The Sharphead darter, Etheostoma acuticeps , is a poorly known member 
of the subgenus Nothonotus. In fact, until October 1975, only 37 specimens 
of this Fish had been collected and the species was considered extinct. It 
was not recognized as distinct until 1947, when two specimens were 
collected in the South Fork Holston River, Tennessee. A last attempt to 
obtain the darter prior to the impoundment of South Holston Reservoir 
resulted in only four specimens, indicating a meager population. The 
species was described by Bailey (1959) on the basis of these six 
specimens, and at that time the only known locality was under 58 m of 
water. 
In the 1960s L.W. Knapp and T. Zorach independently uncovered four 
misidentified collections of E. acuticeps at the Academy of Natural Sciences 
of Philadelphia totaling 28 specimens (Zorach 1972). These had been 
labeled by Fowler (1936a,b) as Nothonotus rufilineatus. The collections were 
made in June 1930 by J.G. Carlson and T. Kerr in the South Fork 
Holston River, Tennessee, and the North Toe River, North Carolina. Ap- 
parently the collections were not very exhaustive, as they included only a 
few species. Etheostoma acuticeps was caught in respectable numbers, 
Brimleyana No. 2: 137-140. November 1979 
137 
