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Blackside Darter
Percina maculata
Percina maculata, the blackside darter, is a species of freshwater ray-finned fish, a darter from the subfamily Etheostomatinae, part of the family Percidae, which also contains the perches, ruffes and pikeperches. It is a widespread inhabitant of streams and rivers in the Mississippi River watershed. Like other darters it prefers rocky riffles and sandy runs, but is tolerant of pools and still water as well. It is one of the 324 fish species found in Tennessee.
From the article Percina maculata on Wikipedia (CC BY-SA), quoted section by section
Range & habitat
Blackside darter is found in areas of small to medium-sized rivers and streams, that are clean and free of most pollution. The areas they are found will have slower current and have spaces to hide like roots and natural debris. These fish are widespread in the United States and can be found in the Hudson Bay, Mississippi River basin, and the Gulf drainages from Mobile Bay in Alabama to the Calcasieu River in Louisiana. They have also been found in the Minnesota river basin, Whetstone Creek, Big Sioux basin, Pipestone, and other areas around the Great Lakes. They were present in the Big Sandy drainage in the early 1900s, but have not been found recently in any Virginia drainages.
Wikipedia: “Habitat and Geographic distribution”
What it does
Spawning season for Blacksides starts in spring, starting around April and lasting to late June or early July. The fish start by moving up stream then they spawn over sand and gravel around slow riffles, and then bury the eggs. The parents provide no additional care for eggs or young. The young are born and will mature by the age of one or two, living up to five years.
Wikipedia: “Reproduction”
In human culture
Percina is the Latin diminutive for perch, and maculata is from the Latin word maculatus meaning "spotted".
== References ==
Wikipedia: “Etymology of scientific name”
Where it lives
Recorded sightings
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geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.
Drag the globe to turn it. Dots are where records exist, not a range map; darker means more records.
In the stacks
Searching the stacks…
Every page naming Percina maculata in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
This page is assembled live from iNaturalist, GBIF, Wikipedia, the Source Library and the Internet Archive. It is not yet part of the hand-edited codex. iNaturalist taxon 109089.