Duskytail Darter | Etheostoma percnurum

Status: IUCN: Critically Endangered; USFWS: Endangered (1993)

Threats: Agricultural practices, habitat loss, impoundments, and sedimentation.

CFI Status: Reared at CFI from 2017-Present for reintroduction, augmentation, and monitoring (Upper Clinch); Additional monitoring in 2008, 2015-2016, and 2021-present (Copper Creek).
(What do these terms mean?)

Native Range: Copper Creek (Clinch River system), VA.

Spawning Habitat Preferences: Late spring spawners; medium-sized streams with slow-moderate flow; lay clutches of eggs under medium to large, flat rocks.

Fun Fact: In 2008, the Duskytail Darter, a species already listed as endangered, was found to actually be four distinct species. This split recognized the Citico, Marbled, and Tuxedo Darters in addition to the already-known Duskytail. All four of these animals were now significantly more rare than when they were thought to be the same species.Species in the sub-genus Catonotus are referred to as Egg-Mimic Darters. The males have structures on their dorsal fins that are very similar in appearance to their eggs. These egg-mimics help males trick females into thinking they are already successfully maintaining a nest, encouraging the female to entrust her offspring to him.

In Partnership With: Rebecca Blanton at Austin Peay; USFWS (Asheville, NC); USFWS Southwestern Virginia (Abingdon, VA); Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources; World Wildlife Fund

Relevant Literature: Blanton, R.E. & R.E. Jenkins. 2008. Three new darter species of the federally endangered Etheostoma percnurum species complex (Percidae, subgenus Catonotus) from the Tennessee and Cumberland river drainages. Zootaxa 1963:1-24.