Bluemask darter
species of fish
The bluemask darter (Etheostoma akatulo) 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 endemic to the eastern United States. It is a federally listed endangered species of the United States. This fish was not formally described until 2009, but it was added to the US Endangered Species List in 1993. During breeding, the male has bright blue patches on its head and other areas. This fish is found only in the Caney Fork River system, a tributary of the Cumberland River in Tennessee. The species name akatulo comes from the Cherokee for "mask", referring to the solid blue coloration on the lower face of the fish.
Anatomy and appearance
The species differs from other species of the subgenus Doration by having fully scaled cheeks, complete lateral line, breeding males with bright blue pigment completely covering the lower face, and breeding males with soft dorsal and anal fins lacking orange and blue pigment.
Geographic distribution
Etheostoma akatulo is known from five small rivers and large creeks of the upper Caney Fork River system, Tennessee, including Collins River, Rocky River, Calfkiller River, Cane Creek, and upper Caney Fork River. Etheostoma akatulo is most abundant and widely distributed in Collins River, where it occurs in a 37-km reach between Shellsford, Warren County, and Tennessee Highway 56, 1.2 km east of Mt.
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This entry incorporates text from “Bluemask darter” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.