Channel darter (Percina copelandi) COSEWIC assessment and status report: chapter 3

Species information

Name, classification and taxonomy

The channel darter, Percina copelandi (Jordan, 1877), is a small benthic percid (subfamily Etheostomatinae). The official French common name is the fouille-roche gris, although dard gris was used in older literature. The channel darter is rare in Canada as it is restricted to a few streams, rivers and lakes in Ontario and Quebec.

Description

A description of the channel darter was provided by Goodchild (1994) in the original status report. This species has also been described by Scott and Crossman (1973) and Coad et al. (1995). The channel darter is light sand or olive-coloured with brown speckles on its back. X-shaped markings are scattered over its dorsal surface (Figure 1). A dark spot or bar may be present beneath the eye and extend onto the snout. There are 8-18 brown oblong blotches along the lateral line linked by a thin brown line. Adults are rarely larger than 40 mm in total length. The channel darter can be distinguished from the johnny darter, Etheostoma nigrum, and the tesselated darter, Etheostoma olmstedi, since both of these species have one anal spine, while the channel darter has two anal spines and a series of lateral blotches along its lateral line. The channel darter is superficially similar to the river darter Percina shumardi; however, the channel darter has clear or lightly speckled fins whereas the river darter has a dark blotch on the membrane behind the first spine of the spiny dorsal fin and a blotch on the membrane connecting the last three spines. The blackside darter Percina maculata has been confused with the channel darter in the past. Both of these species have two anal spines but the blackside darter has 13-14 rays in its first spiny dorsal fin and its premaxillary is not protractile while the channel darter has 11 rays in its first spiny dorsal fin and its premaxillaries are protractile.

Figure 1. Drawing of a channel darter Percina copelandi. Figure drawn by S. Gadd, Canadian Museum of Nature. Specimen 4.0 cm in standard length.

Figure 1. Drawing of a channel darter Percina copelandi. Figure drawn by S. Gadd, CanadianMuseumof Nature. Specimen 4.0 cm in standard length

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