Relict Darter | Etheostoma chienense

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

Threats: Agricultural practices, habitat destruction, and sedimentation (What do these terms mean?)

Native Range: Bayou du Chien system, w. KY

Spawning Habitat Preferences: Late winter spawners in areas where the riverbank is undercut and water flows beneath a mat of roots with sand or gravel substrate covered with leaf litter; attach their eggs to the underside of woody debris

CFI Status: Propagated at CFI from 1999-2002 to send to other hatcheries to help maintain assurance colonies until 2016. (What do these terms mean?)

In Partnership With: USFWS (Cookeville, TN); Wolf Creek National Fish Hatchery

This species has been proposed for down-listing* to Threatened status. It is also the most long-lived fish we’ve kept in captivity at roughly 9 years old (1-2 years in the wild)!