The lipstick darter (''Etheostoma chuckwachatte'') 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 occurs in the

Tallapoosa River The Tallapoosa River runs U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 27, 2011 from the southern end of the Appalachian Mountains in Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United Sta ...

drainage above the

Fall Line A fall line (or fall zone) is the area where an upland region and a coastal plain meet and is noticeable especially the place rivers cross it, with resulting rapids or waterfalls. The uplands are relatively hard crystalline basement rock, and the ...

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

and

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

. It inhabits rocky riffles of creeks and small to medium rivers.

Description

The lipstick darter is a small fish with a laterally compressed body and it attains a maximum

standard length Fish measurement is the measuring of individual fish and various parts of fish anatomy, their anatomies, for data used in many areas of ichthyology, including Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy and fishery biology. Overall length Standard length (SL) is ...

of around . It has 8–9 square shaped blotches along its back and 5–6 faint vertical bars towards the tail on the flanks. Adult males have obvious red-orange colored lips and large spots along the flanks of a similar color, as well as showing orange and blue-green coloration on the

anal fin Fins are moving appendages protruding from the body of fish that interact with water to generate thrust and help the fish swim. Apart from the tail or caudal fin, fish fins have no direct connection with the back bone and are supported o ...

. When they are

spawning Spawn is the Egg cell, eggs and Spermatozoa, sperm released or deposited into water by aquatic animals. As a verb, ''to spawn'' refers to the process of freely releasing eggs and sperm into a body of water (fresh or marine); the physical act is ...

, the first

dorsal fin A dorsal fin is a fin on the back of most marine and freshwater vertebrates. Dorsal fins have evolved independently several times through convergent evolution adapting to marine environments, so the fins are not all homologous. They are found ...

of the males takes on a dusky hue and with an orange margin while the second dorsal fin has an orange band immediately below a blue marginal band. The flanks of the females are mottled brown and in some cases these are marked with indistinct vertical bars. The females may also show a narrow red band on the margin of the first dorsal fin and indistinct turquoise coloring on the chest.

Distribution

The lipstick darter is found throughout the Tallapoosa River system above the Fall Line in Alabama and Georgia in the southeastern United Statates.

Habitat and biology

Lipstick darters are found in riffles which have fast currents in larger streams and rivers, here they frequently hunt among and around gravel and cobble on the riverbed. Where flows are moderate or slow they are most commonly recorded in shallow riffles at depths of deep (5–14 in), where there is a faster current and cover is provided by submerged vegetation, pebbles or rock overhangs. Its shape enables it to squeeze between the rocks and in crevices to look for food even where there is a very fast flow. They feed by picking off the aquatic larvae of insects from the rocks or vegetation. Their prey is made up of

fly Flies are insects of the order Diptera, the name being derived from the Greek δι- ''di-'' "two", and πτερόν ''pteron'' "wing". Insects of this order use only a single pair of wings to fly, the hindwings having evolved into advanced ...

mayfly Mayflies (also known as shadflies or fishflies in Canada and the upper Midwestern United States, as Canadian soldiers in the American Great Lakes region, and as up-winged flies in the United Kingdom) are aquatic insects belonging to the orde ...

, and

stonefly Plecoptera is an order of insects commonly known as stoneflies. Some 3,500 species are described worldwide, with new species still being discovered. Stoneflies are found worldwide, except Antarctica. Stoneflies are believed to be one of the most ...

larvae. The spawning season runs from April up to June and they bury their eggs in the gravel between the pebbles. The females have been collected with ripe eggs when the temperature of the water was in the range . Their lifespan is thought to be 2–3 years.

Taxonomy

The lipstick darter was first formally described in 1993 by Richard L. Mayden and Robert M. Wood with the type locality given as Hillabee Creek at the

Alabama State Route 22 State Route 22 (SR 22) is a state highway that extends from Safford in Dallas County to the Georgia state line near Roanoke in Randolph County. The route travels across most of the state from west to east. Route description St ...

, northeast of

Alexander City, Alabama Alexander City, known to locals as "Alex City", is the largest city in Tallapoosa County, Alabama, Tallapoosa County, Alabama, United States, with a population of 14,843 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It has been the largest ...

. It is regarded as a members of the greenbreast darter (''E. jordani'')

species complex In biology, a species complex is a group of closely related organisms that are so similar in appearance and other features that the boundaries between them are often unclear. The taxa in the complex may be able to hybridize readily with each oth ...

and it is not

sympatric In biology, two closely related species or populations are considered sympatric when they exist in the same geographic area and thus frequently encounter each other. An initially interbreeding population that splits into two or more distinct spe ...

with any other member of that species complex.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3762188 Etheostoma Fish described in 1993