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Common names: Bluemask darter
Occurrence: native
Salinity: freshwater
Abundance: | Ref:
Importance: | Ref:
Aquaculture: | Ref:
Regulations: | Ref:
Uses: no uses
Comments: Type locality, 1.6 air km SE Irving College, Collins River between mouths of Scott and Hillis creeks, Caney Fork River system, Warren Co., UAIC 10382.02 (holotype of Etheostoma akatulo, 4.55 cm SL, breeding male). Known from 5 small rivers and large creeks of the upper Caney Fork River system, Tennessee, including Collins River, Rocky River, Calfkiller River, Cane Creek, and upper Caney Fork River; all five streams originate on the Cumberland Plateau physiographic province and flow through the eastern Highland Rim physiographic province into Great Falls Reservoir, which was filled in 1916. Reported to be most abundant and widely distributed in Collins River, occurs in a 37-km reach between Shellsford, Warren Co., and Tennessee Highway 56, 1.2 km east of Mt. Olive, Grundy Co. (Ref. 80494). Status of threat: Federally endangered. Existing and potential threats identified include habitat destruction from gravel dredging, which has already eliminated habitat once occupied by the species in Collins River; pesticides in runoff or groundwater from plant nurseries; siltation from gravel mining, agricultural runoff, or land-disturbing activities; and, acid mine drainage from headwater streams (e.g. in Calfkiller River, water quality degradation, siltation, and low-head mainchannel impoundments may have contributed to decline of the population. At Collins River, Tennessee Highway 56, 1.6 km south of Tarlton, Grundy Co., gravel dredging has extensively altered presence of sand and gravel substrates that once existed there (Ref. 80494).
National Checklist:
Country Information: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/resources/the-world-factbook/geos/us.html
National Fisheries Authority: http://www.nmfs.gov
Occurrences: Occurrences Point map
Main Ref: Layman, S.R. and R.L. Mayden, 2009
National Database:

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Teleostei (teleosts) > Perciformes/Percoidei (Perchs) > Percidae (Perches) > Etheostomatinae
Etymology: Etheostoma: Greek, etheo = to strain + Greek, stoma = mouth; Rafinesque said "various mouths", but Jordan and Evermann suggest the name might have been intended as "Heterostoma (Ref. 45335); akatulo: Name akatulo is derived from the Cherokee noun for mask, and as the common name (Bluemask Darter) implies, this refers to the uninterrupted, intense blue pigment covering the lower face of breeding males..

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Freshwater; benthopelagic. Subtropical

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North America: USA.

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: L_m ? range ? - ? cm
Max length : 4.8 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 80494); 4.5 cm SL (female)

Short description Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 10 - 13; Dorsal soft rays (total): 10-12. This species is distinguished from all other species under the subgenus Doration by the combination of the following set of characters: completely scaled cheeks (or nearly so); lateral line usually complete; breeding males possess an intense blue mask of pigment completely covering lower face and operculum, snout, lips, underside of head, and branchiostegal membranes; breeding males with soft dorsal and anal fins dark gray to black with no orange spots on rays or blue pigment in membranes (Ref. 80494).

This species is observed in slow to moderate current over sand and fine gravel at depths of 10-50 cm, mainly just downstream of riffles, in runs, or along margins of pools. Breeding males collected in April at the type locality were most abundant in gravelly runs, while breeding females were more common in slower water over sandier substrates adjacent to runs. It is reported to be spawning in May and June in gravelly runs, burying their eggs in small sand patches among the gravel, a similar behavior of E. stigmaeumin aquaria. After the spawning period, it moves to sandy substrates in low-velocity areas of intermediate depth (Ref. 80494).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Layman, S.R. and R.L. Mayden, 2009. A new species of the darter subgenus Doration (Percidae: Etheostoma) from the Caney Fork River System, Tennessee. Copeia 2009(1):157-170. (Ref. 80494)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)

Endangered (EN) (B1ab(iii,v)+2ab(iii,v)); Date assessed: 02 December 2011

CITES (Ref. 128078)

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

Harmless

Human uses

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Estimates based on models

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804): PD₅₀ = 0.5000 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].

Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00537 (0.00235 - 0.01227), b=3.14 (2.94 - 3.34), in cm Total Length, based on LWR estimates for this (Sub)family-body shape (Ref. 93245).

Trophic level (Ref. 69278): 3.2 ±0.5 se; based on size and trophs of closest relatives

Resilience (Ref. 120179): High, minimum population doubling time less than 15 months (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).

Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153): Low vulnerability (10 of 100).

Etheostoma akatulo Layman & Mayden, 2009