Tuxedo Darter | Etheostoma lemniscatum

Status: IUCN: Vulnerable; USFWS: Listed as Endangered (1993) under Duskytail Darter*

Threats: Impoundments, mining, and sedimentation (What do these terms mean?)

Native Range: Big South Fork of Cumberland River, KY and TN

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

CFI Status: Propagated at CFI from 2014-2019 to establish propagation protocols and maintain an assurance colony. (What do these terms mean?)

In Partnership With: Rebecca Blanton at Austin Peay State University; 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.

*The Tuxedo Darter was recently described as genetically distinct from the Duskytail Darter (literature above), along with the Citico and Marbled darters. All three of these split species are listed as Endangered under Duskytail Darter under the Endangered Species Act.

Species in the Catonotus sub-genus are referred to as Egg-Mimic Darters, as the males have egg-mimic structures on their dorsal fins to “fool” females into thinking they are already successful fathers and entice her to mate with them.