Spawning and nesting behavior of the waccamaw darter,Etheostoma perlongum

Allopaternal care in the tessellated darter, Etheostoma olmstedi (Pisces: Percidae)

“…A viscous population is one in which there is a high probability of kin being near each other. Several darter species, including E. olmstedi, migrate annually between larger downstream overwintering habitats and upstream spawning grounds (Hankinson 1908, Winn 1958a, May 1969, Page & Smith 1970,1971, Lindquist et al 1981. If relatives home to the specific reach in which they hatched, kin could interact.…”

Reproduction, Age and Growth of the Bayou Darter Etheostoma rubrum (Pisces, Percidae): An Endemic of Bayou Pierre

“…Various studies suggest that female darters spawn repeatedly during the reproductive season (Lake, 1936;Raney and Lachner, 1939;Fahy, 1954;Strawn and Hubbs, 1956;Winn, 1958a, b;Mount, 1959;Hubbs and Strawn, 1957;Hubbs et al, 1968;Jenkins and Burkhead, 1975;Lindquist et al, 1981;Taber and Taber, 1983). The only direct evidence, however, was provided in controlled field experiments by Gale and Deutsch (1985) for Etheostoma olmstedi and Weddle and Burr (1991) for Etheostoma rafinesquei.…”

Egg mimicry and allopaternal care: two mate-attracting tactics by which nesting striped darter ( Etheostoma virgatum ) males enhance reproductive success

“…Egg mimics have also evolved on the fin rays of several species of egg-clustering darters. In the spawning season, fleshy masses develop on the dorsal rays of males in most darter species in the subgenus Catonotus (Page and Swofford 1984;Mayden 1985), and on pelvic rays in members of the darter subgenus Boleosoma (Lindquist et al 1981;Page and Bart 1989). Although these masses may first have served in evolution to protect the eggs from being ruptured during nest guarding (Page and Swofford 1984), in some species they have become greatly enlarged and now resemble eggs in size and color.…”