Introduction:

The swamp darter (Etheostoma fusiforme) (Girard, 1854), is one of the 324 species of fish found in Tennessee. The name fusiforme means long and cylindrical. It is a rather large member of its subgenus, reaching 50mm SL. It is typical of the subgenus Hololepis in having a small head and mouth and a highly arched incomplete lateral line. Neither breeding males or females develop bright colors. The upper body is typically light green, yellow, or tan, while the venter is white or yellow and many have a few scattered melanophores or may have large black spots. The midside has a band of 10-12 dark brown rectangles. Some individuals have small dark dorsal saddles. Their fins are lightly banded or have scattered melanophores. Orbital bars are present and usually prominent. Their current population trend is unknown, but as with many fish species, their habitat is probably being influenced negatively by poor human practices. It is a small, hardy freshwater fish, which enables it to tolerate a variety of water conditions. E. fusiforme occurs throughout the Eastern and Southeastern United States in small streams, ponds, and swamps, which the common name implies. They tend to feed on small invertebrates which they usually capture on or among aquatic plants (Shmidt and Whitworth, 1979). Breeding tends to occur in early to mid-spring. Individuals typically only live for one year, and rarely two (Collette, 1962). Their eggs are laid on aquatic vegetation and other debris in the water and tend to hatch within the first two weeks after being fertilized (Fletcher, 1976). There is currently no management plan in Tennessee, although there are lots of management recommendations that are universal in preserving freshwater habitats. But first, before a specific plan of management recommendations can be made for ' 'E. fusiforme' ', it needs to be monitored in order to gain an ideal estimate of the abundance of the species.

Geographic Distributon:

Etheostoma f. fusiforme ranges from southern Maine along the Atlantic Coast and Gulf coast to about Texas-Louisiana border and north in the former Mississippi Embayment to Kentucky. Records exist for long Island (Whitworth et al., 1968). Almost all localities are below the Fall Line (Collete, 1962) or, in the northeast, along the Seaboard Lowlands. The species is generally common along the Atlantic Coast, sporadic along the Gulf Coast and in the Mississippi River tributaries. Dispersal of E. fusiforme into New England is discussed by Schmidt and Whitworth (1979). An introduced population exists in the French Broad system in North Carolina (Collete, 1962). Collette (1962) showed that there are only two subspecies of E. fusiforme: E. fusiforme fusiforme on the Atlantic Coast from the Waccamaw River, North Carolina (Shute, et al., 1982) north to Maine, and E. fusiforme barratti from the Pee Dee River, South Carolina south and west throughout the rest of the species' range. It also extends up the Red River drainage as far as northeastern Texas and southeastern Oklahoma, where it is rare (Robinson, Moore, and Miller, 1974). No other darter is found as far south as E. fusiforme (Briggs, 1958).

Ecology:

The swamp darter is found in non-flowing swamps, bogs, and manmade ponds or slow-flowing, sluggish, streams, especially were detritus or aquatic vegetation occurs over mud. Collete (1962) commented on the relationship between the color of the swamp darter and the color of the water in which it occurs. He noted that the darkest individuals are in dark-water coastal streams and ponds It lives in water in which the lower pH values are not typically tolerated by all but a few fresh water species of fish. It also tends to thrive in alkaline waters of northern Florida. The range of water temperature tolerated between Maine and Florida is also impressive.
Swamp darters feed on fly larvae, amphipods, and other small crustaceans and insects (McLane, 1950; Flemer and Woolcott, 1966; Schmidt and Whitworth, 1979). A number of predators and parasites are reported by Collete (1962). Smith (1950) reports that swamp darters tend to be an important element in the diet of young chain pickerel and young largemouth bass, where the species coexist. There is no reason to suggest human induced problems for this hardy, widespread and locally abundant darter. It thrives under a variety of conditions which include warm water, extreme murkiness or brown coloration, low pH, and low oxygen content. Such adaptability is an attribute of beneficial to survival in our modern world.

Life History:

Observations on spawning behavior are described by Smith (1907), Fletcher (1976), and Collette (1962). Spawning is thought to occur in May in New Jersey; elsewhere breeding individuals have been collected in the months of March, April, and May (Collette, 1962). Swamp darters are not bashful about spawning (Fletcher, 1976). They typically spawn in the same habitats that they are found in. Males approach females from the rear, mount her, and beat her with their pelvic fins. The females then lead the males into aquatic plants, where the eggs are deposited singly on leaves. There is no observations of the of either of the parents guarding the eggs. There is also no information regarding the number of males that females spawn with and vice versa. No fighting or display of territoriality is typically observed (Fletcher 1976; Collette 1962). For many populations of the swamp darter, maximum longevity is only one year (Collette, 1962), with very few individuals surviving two years.

Current Management:

Boschung and Mayden (2004) recommended special concern status for Etheostoma fusiforme in Alabama. In Oklahoma, E. fusiforme is apparently one of the rarest fishes (Miller and Robison 2004). Populations are currently stable in the southern United States (Warren et al. 2000). There are currently no recorded management plans for E. fusiforme, probably because it is not federally or state listed as endangered or threatened. The most important biological causes of the decline of E. fusiforme is poorly documented, if at all. There is no reason to suggest human induced problems for this hardy, widespread and locally abundant darter. There are currently no agencies or non-governmental groups that are actively protecting this species because of its abundance and hardiness. There are also no current conservation easements that are providing effective areas for the conservation of the fish.

Management Recommendations:

To monitor and potentially manage the species it would be ideal to have good estimates of the abundance of the species potentially across their native range. The species should be monitored and managed by gathering data on its presence in previously encountered habitats. Sampling methods such as electrofishing, gill netting, trap netting, water quality, and age and growth sampling are all possible sampling methods that could be used to monitor the species populations. These sampling techniques could be applied yearly around the spawning seasons, in habitats were the species tends to be collected and identified, and were human practices are most likely to affect the species through pollution or poor construction practices. For example, in slow moving, brackish waters, or in ponds and swamps that contain muddy bottoms covered in detritus and aquatic plants which are close to urban areas. There should be some watersheds and land set aside for future protection of the species and other species that coexist. If invasive species are to pose a threat to E. fusiforme in the future, they should try to be removed in a swift and orderly fashion in order to reduce the impact of their presence. There is no one method on how such species should be removed, since there are currently no invasive species that affect it.

References

• http://www.bio.utk.edu/hulseylab/Fishlist.html
• Boschung, H.T., Jr., and R.L. Mayden. 2004. Fishes of Alabama. Smithsonian Books, Washington. 736 pp.
• Briggs, J.C. 1958. A list of Florida fishes and their distribution, Bulletin of the Florida State Museum 2(8):223-318.
• Collette, B.B. 1962. The swamp darters of the subgenus Hololepis (Pisces, Percidae). Tulane Stud. Zool. 9(4):115-211.
• Flemer, D. A. and W. S. Woolcott. 1966. "Food habits and distribution of the fishes of Tuckahoe Creek, Virginia, with special emphasis on the blugill, Lepomis m. macrochirus Rafinesque," Chesapeake Sci.,7:75-89.
• Fletcher, A.M. l976. A rare darter-spawning. American Currents 4(1):20-22.
• Girard, C.F. 1854. Description of some new species of fish from the State of Massachusetts. Proc. Boston Soc. Nat. Hist. 5:40- 43
• Goin, C.J. 1943. The lower vertebrate fauna of the water hyacinth community in northern Florida. Proc. Florida Acad. Sci. 6(3- 4):143-153.
• McLane, W. M. 1950. "Notes on the food of the largemouth black bass, Micropterus salmoides floridanus (Le Sueur), in a Florida lake," Q. J. Fla. Acad. Sci., 12(1949):195-201.
• Miller, R.J., and H.W. Robison. 2004. Fishes of Oklahoma. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman. 450 pp.
• Page, L. 1983 Handbook of darters. T.F.H. Publications, Inc. USA. 155-156 p.
• Robinson, H. W., G.A. Moore, and R.J Miller. 1974. Threatened fishes of Oklahoma. Proceedings of the Oklahoma Acad. of Sciences 54:139-146.
• Schmidt, R.E., and W.R. Whitworth. 1979. Distribution and habitat of the swamp darter (Etheostoma fusiforme) in southern New England. American Midland Naturalist 102(2):408-413.
• Smith, H. M. 1907. "The fishes of North Carolina," N. C. Geological and Economic Survey, Vol. 2. Uzzell & Co., Raleigh, 453 p.
• Warren, M.L., Jr., B.M. Burr, S.J. Walsh, H.L. Bart, Jr., R.C. Cashner, D.A. Etnier, B.J. Freeman, B.R. Kuhajda, R.L. Mayden, H.W. Robison, S.T. Ross, and W.C. Starnes. 2000. Diversity, Distribution, and Conservation status of the native freshwater fishes of the southern United States. Fisheries 25(10):7-29.