The Kentucky arrow darter (''Etheostoma spilotum''), sometimes known as the Cumberland Plateau darter, is a species of freshwater

ray-finned fish Actinopterygii (; ), members of which are known as ray-finned fish or actinopterygians, is a class of bony fish that comprise over 50% of living vertebrate species. They are so called because of their lightly built fins made of webbings of sk ...

, a darter from the

subfamily In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end botanical subfamily names with "-oideae", and zo ...

Etheostomatinae Etheostomatinae is a species-rich subfamily of freshwater ray-finned fish, the members of which are commonly known as the darters. The subfamily is part of the family Percidae which also includes the perches, ruffes and pikeperches. The family ...

, part of the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Percidae The Percidae are a family of ray-finned fish, part of the order Perciformes, which are found in fresh and brackish waters of the Northern Hemisphere. The majority are Nearctic, but there are also Palearctic species. The family contains nearly 250 ...

, which also contains the

perch Perch is a common name for freshwater fish from the genus ''Perca'', which belongs to the family Percidae of the large order Perciformes. The name comes from , meaning the type species of this genus, the European perch (''P. fluviatilis'') ...

es, ruffes and pikeperches. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

to the eastern

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, where it is found only in the upper

Kentucky River The Kentucky River is a tributary of the Ohio River in Kentucky, United States. The river and its tributaries drain much of eastern and central Kentucky, passing through the Eastern Coalfield, the Cumberland Mountains, and the Bluegrass re ...

drainage in

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

. It inhabits rocky riffles and pools of headwaters, creeks and small rivers. This species can reach a length of .

Habitat and ecology

Habitat includes upland creeks and streams, generally in headwaters, but juveniles and sometimes adults are also sometimes found in larger streams; generally this darter occurs in slow to moderate current in cool, sluggish pools or areas above and below riffles (avoids swift currents) over bedrock, rubble, cobble, and pebble, often interspersed with sandy areas. Spawning occurs apparently in riffles in water about 5–15 cm deep or under or near rocks in raceways.

Conservation

Habitat has been severely degraded and limited by water pollution from surface

coal mining Coal mining is the process of resource extraction, extracting coal from the ground or from a mine. Coal is valued for its Energy value of coal, energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to Electricity generation, generate electr ...

and gas exploration activities; removal of

riparian A riparian zone or riparian area is the interface between land and a river or stream. In some regions, the terms riparian woodland, riparian forest, riparian buffer zone, riparian corridor, and riparian strip are used to characterize a ripar ...

vegetation; stream channelization; increased siltation associated with poor mining, logging, and agricultural practices; and deforestation of watersheds. These activities can permanently alter stream water quality (e.g., elevated conductivity) by contributing sediment, dissolved metals, and other solids to streams supporting populations. These water quality changes can be permanent and render these habitats unsuitable for the darter. Recent and past research has demonstrated that this darter is intolerant of these conditions, and it has been eliminated from a number of streams across its range. Current regulatory mechanisms have been inadequate to prevent these impacts. Conservation Fisheries, Inc. (CFI) reported that CFI, in cooperation with Kentucky Department of Fish & Wildlife, developed captive propagation protocols for reintroduction of ''Etheostoma spilotum'' into streams within its native range to restore populations that have been extirpated. Reintroduction sites will be chosen where habitat conditions are suitable and there is some level of protection (e.g., within wildlife management area or national forest boundaries). Survivability and movement patterns of released fish will be assessed through mark-recapture methods and through periodic monitoring using non-invasive methods, such as visual census techniques. Accordingly, 110 juvenile ''Etheostoma spilotum'' were released to Sugar Creek, Kentucky in an effort to restore the species to a stream (near the source population) where the species had apparently been extirpated, but which exhibited currently suitable habitat.

References

Kentucky arrow Endemic fauna of Kentucky Endemic fish of the United States Ecology of the Appalachian Mountains Fish described in 1887 Taxa named by Charles Henry Gilbert ESA threatened species {{Percidae-stub