River Darter
Percina shumardi
About This Fish

The River Darter is found throughout central North America in Gulf Coast drainages from Texas to Alabama, including the Mobile Basin, in the Mississippi and Ohio river drainages, including the Tennessee River Drainage, and north to Great Lakes and Hudson Bay drainages in Canada. As the common name suggests, River Darters are found over rocky substrate in deeper, fast water in rivers and larger tributaries. While most darters are found on stream bottoms, members of the genus Percina tend to be found higher in the water column because they retain a swim bladder.

Literature

Freedman, J.A., T.D. Stecko, R.W. Criswell, and J.R. Stauffer Jr. 2009. Extensions of the known ranges of Percina shumardi Girard and three species of Etheostoma (subgenus Nothonotus) in Pennsylvania. Journal of the Pennsylvania Academy of Science. 42-44. https://www.jstor.org/stable/44149681

Haag, W.R., and M.L. Warren Jr. 2006. Seasonal feeding specialization on snails by river darters (Percina shumardi) with a review of snail feeding by other darter species. Copeia. 4:604-612. https://www.fs.usda.gov/treesearch/pubs/download/25491.pdf

Sanders, R.E., and C.O. Yoder. 1989. Brief Note: Recent Collections and Food Items of River Darters, Percina shumardi (Percidae), in the Markland Dam Pool of the Ohio River. Ohio Journal of Science. 89:33-35. https://kb.osu.edu/bitstream/handle/1811/23303/1/V089N1_033.pdf

Cavadias, E. 1986. Factors affecting swimbladder lift and swimbladder gas composition analysis in three species of darters: Percina shumardi, P. maculata, and P. caprodes. Masters Thesis. University of Manitoba. Winnipeg, Manitoba. https://mspace.lib.umanitoba.ca/bitstream/handle/1993/15360/Cavadias_Factors_affecting.pdf?sequence=1

Riggs, C.D. 1964. Percina shumardi in the Illinois River of Oklahoma. Proceedings of the Oklahoma Academy of Science. 44:65-66. http://ojs.library.okstate.edu/osu/index.php/OAS/article/viewFile/4306/3979