River Darter
Return To Search
Name and Code
Family
Percidae - perches and darters
Species
Percina shumardi
Taxonomic Authority
(Girard 1859)
Common Name(s)
River Darter
French Name
dard de rivière
Species Code
345
Family TSN
168356
Parent TSN
168471
Species TSN
168497
Conservation Status
Global Rank (GRank)
G5 (2015-08-17)
National Rank (NRank)
N5 (2017-12-22)
Provincial Rank (SRank)
S11, S42,3 (2018-04-13)
COSEWIC Status
Endangered1, Not at Risk2,3 (Apr 2016)
SARO Status
Endangered1, Not at Risk2,3 (2016)
AFS Status
none
Status Notes
(1) Great Lakes-Upper St. Lawrence populations; (2) Saskatchewan-Nelson River populations; (3) Southern Hudson Bay-James Bay populations
Ecological Value
Ontario Origin
native
General Abundance
uncommon
Tolerance
intermediate
Economic Importance
baitfish (incidental)
Length-Weight Regression Coefficents
Intercept (a)
-5.0587
Slope (b)
3.0411
Length Basis
TL
Habitat and Feeding
General Habitat(s)
lacustrine; riverine
Environment
benthic
Trophic Class
invertivore
Thermal Regime
warmwater
Habitat Preference
cobble- or boulder-strewn gravel-bottomed riffles with fair to moderate current in small to large rivers and sandy channels in lakes
Reproduction
Reproductive Guild
Nonguarders: Brood hiders: Lithophils
Spawning Habitat(s)
riverine
Spawning Season
spring
Spawning Month(s)
April-June
Spawning Temperature (°C)
9-12
Fecundity
375-1,096
Nursery Habitat(s)
riverine
Size and Age
Adult Length (cm)
4.6-7.5 TL
Adult Weight (kg)
0.001-0.004
Age at Maturity (yrs)
1-2
Maximum Length (cm)
9.5 TL
Maximum Weight (kg)
0.0072
Lifespan (yrs)
3-4
Ontario Records
Record Length (cm)
7.6 TL
Record Weight (kg)
0.0036
Ontario Range Map
River Darter range
Ontario Distribution
northwestern Ontario; small area of southwestern Ontario including Lake St. Clair, Sydenham River, Thames River; first reported from Ontario in 1931
Photographs
River Darter photograph
River Darter photograph
Notes
more tolerant of turbidity than other darters
Information Sources
Bailey, R.M., W.C. Latta, and G.R. Smith. 2004. An atlas of Michigan fishes with keys and illustrations for their identification. University of Michigan Museum of Zoology Miscellaneous Publications No. 192. iv + 215 pp.
Barbour, M.T., J. Gerritsen, B.D. Snyder, and J.B. Stribling. 1999. Tolerance and trophic guilds of selected fish species. Appendix C in Rapid bioassessment protocols for use in streams and wadeable rivers: periphyton, benthic macroinvertebrates and fish, second edition. EPA 841-B-99-002. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; Office of Water. Washington, DC.
Becker, G.C. 1983. Fishes of Wisconsin. University of Wisconsin Press. Madison, WI. xii + 1052 pp.
Carlander, K.D. 1997. Handbook of freshwater fishery biology. Volume three. Life history data on Ichthyopercid and Percid fishes of the United States and Canada. Iowa State University Press. Ames, IA. xix + 397 pp.
Coad, B.W. with H. Waszczuk and I. Labignan. 1995. Encyclopedia of Canadian fishes. Museum of Nature and Canadian Sportfishing Productions. Ottawa and Waterdown, ON. viii + 928 pp.
Coker, G.A., C.B. Portt, and C.K. Minns. 2001. Morphological and ecological characteristics of Canadian freshwater fishes. Can. MS Rpt. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 2554: iv + 89 p.
Cooper, E.L. 1983. Fishes of Pennsylvania and the northeastern United States. Pennsylvania State University Press. University Park and London. vii + 243 pp.
COSEWIC. 2016. COSEWIC assessment and status report on the River Darter Percina shumardi, Saskatchewan - Nelson River populations, Southern Hudson Bay - James Bay populations and Great Lakes - Upper St. Lawrence populations, in Canada. Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada. Ottawa. xix + 53 pp.
COSEWIC. 2023. Canadian wildlife species at risk. October 2023. Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada. Gatineau, QC. iv + 130 pp.
Cudmore, B. and N.E. Mandrak. 2018. The baitfish primer: a guide to identifying and protecting Ontario's baitfishes. Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Bait Association of Ontario, Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry, Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters. March 2018. 40 pp.
Cudmore-Vokey, B. and E.J. Crossman. 2000. Checklists of the fish fauna of the Laurentian Great Lakes and their connecting channels. Can. MS Rpt. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 2550: v + 39 p.
Dalton, K.W. 1990. Status of the River Darter, Percina shumardi, in Canada. Can. Field-Nat. 104(1):59-63.
Ditz, K. and E. Holm. 2023. Ontario Fish Species Codes and Names. Ichthyology and Herpetology, Royal Ontario Museum. May 1994. Modified February 2023.
Etnier, D.A. and W.C. Starnes. 1993. The fishes of Tennessee. [2nd printing, 2001]. The University of Tennessee Press. Knoxville, TN. xiv + 689 pp.
Goldstein, R.M. and T.P. Simon. 1999. Toward a united definition of guild structure for feeding ecology of North American freshwater fishes. Pages 123-202 in T.P. Simon [Ed]. Assessing the sustainability and biological integrity of water resources using fish communities. CRC Press. Boca Raton, FL. xx + 671 pp.
Holm, E., N. Mandrak, and M. Burridge. 2021. A field guide to freshwater fishes of Ontario, second edition. Royal Ontario Museum Science Publication. Toronto, ON. 486 pp.
Hubbs, C.L. and K.F. Lagler. 1964. Fishes of the Great Lakes region. University of Michigan Press. Ann Arbor, MI. xv + 213 pp.
Hubbs, C.L., K.F. Lagler, and G.R. Smith. 2004. Fishes of the Great Lakes region, revised edition. University of Michigan Press. Ann Arbor, MI. xvii + 276 pp.
Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS). 2023. On-line database. http://www.itis.gov, retrieved 02 May 2023.
Kuehne, R.A. and R.W. Barbour. 1983. The American darters. The University Press of Kentucky. Lexington, KY. 177p.
Lane, P.A., C.B. Portt, and C.K. Minns. 1996. Nursery habitat characteristics of Great Lakes fishes. Can. MS Rpt. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 2338: v + 42 p.
Lane, P.A., C.B. Portt, and C.K. Minns. 1996. Adult habitat characteristics of Great Lakes fishes. Can. MS Rpt. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 2358: v + 43 p.
Lane, P.A., C.B. Portt, and C.K. Minns. 1996. Spawning habitat characteristics of Great Lakes fishes. Can. MS Rpt. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 2368: v + 48 p.
Lee, D.S., C.R. Gilbert, C.H. Hocutt, R.E. Jenkins, D.E. McAllister, and J.R. Stauffer, Jr. 1980. Atlas of North American freshwater fishes. North Carolina State Museum of Natural History Publication 1980-12. Raleigh, NC. x + 867 pp.
Mandrak, N.E. and E.J. Crossman. 1992. A checklist of Ontario freshwater fishes annotated with distribution maps. Royal Ontario Museum Life Sciences Miscellaneous Publication. Toronto, ON. v + 176 pp.
NatureServe. 2023. NatureServe Network Biodiversity Location Data accessed through NatureServe Explorer [web application]. NatureServe, Arlington, Virginia. Available https://explorer.natureserve.org/ (Accessed: February 2, 2023).
Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources (OMNR). 2013. Extinct, not at risk and data deficient species in Ontario list, 18 April 2013.
Page, L.M. 1983. Handbook of Darters. T.F.H. Publications, Inc. Neptune City, NJ. 271 pp.
Page, L.M. and B.M. Burr. 2011. Peterson field guide to freshwater fishes of North America north of Mexico, second edition. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Boston, MA. xix + 663 pp.
Page, L.M., K.E. Bemis, T.E. Dowling, H.S. Espinosa-Pérez, L.T. Findley, C.R. Gilbert, K.E. Hartel, R.N. Lea, N.E. Mandrak, M.A. Neighbors, J.J. Schmitter-Soto, and H.J. Walker Jr. 2023. Common and scientific names of fishes from the United States, Canada, and Mexico. 8th Edition. American Fisheries Society, Spec. Publ. 37. Bethesda, MD. 439 pp.
Phillips, G.L., W.D. Schmid, and J.C. Underhill. 1982. Fishes of the Minnesota region. University of Minnesota Press. Minneapolis, MN. x + 248 pp.
Portt, C.B., G. Coker, and C.K. Minns. 1999. Riverine Habitat Characteristics of Fishes of the Great Lakes Watershed. Can. MS Rpt. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 2481: vi + 62 p.
Pratt, T.C., W.M. Gardner, D.A. Watkinson and L.D. Bouvier. 2016. Ecology of the River Darter in Canadian waters: Distribution, relative abundance, life-history traits, diet, and habitat characteristics. Diversity 8(4):22.
Ross, S.T. 2001. The inland fishes of Mississippi. University Press of Mississippi. xx + 624 pp.
Scott, W.B. 1967. Freshwater fishes of eastern Canada, second edition. University of Toronto Press. Toronto, ON. xii + 137 pp.
Scott, W.B. and E.J. Crossman. 1973. Freshwater fishes of Canada. Bull. Fish. Res. Board Can. 184. [1998 Reprint] Galt House Publications Ltd. Oakville, ON. xx + 966 pp.
Scharpf, C. 2008. Annotated checklist of North American freshwater fishes, including subspecies and undescribed forms. Part IV: Cottidae through Percidae. American Currents 34(4):1-43.
Simon, T.P. 1999. Assessment of Balon's reproductive guilds with application to midwestern North American freshwater fishes. Pages 97-122 in T.P. Simon [Ed]. Assessing the sustainability and biological integrity of water resources using fish communities. CRC Press. Boca Raton, FL. xx + 671 pp.
Simon, T.P. and R. Wallus. 2006. Reproductive biology and early life history of fishes in the Ohio River drainage. Volume 4. Percidae - perch, pikeperch and darters. CRC Press. Boca Raton, FL. xxviii + 619 pp.
Smith, P.W. 2002. The fishes of Illinois. University of Illinois Press. Urbana and Chicago, IL. xxix + 314 pp.
Stauffer, Jr., J.R., J.M. Boltz and L.R. White. 1995. The fishes of West Virginia. Reprinted from The Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 146:1-389. Pennsylvania State University. 389 pp.
Stauffer, Jr., J.R., R.W. Criswell and D.P. Fischer. 2016. The fishes of Pennsylvania. Cichlid Press. El Paso, TX. 556 pp.
Stewart, K.W. and D.A. Watkinson. 2004. The freshwater fishes of Manitoba. University of Manitoba Press. Winnipeg, MB. xvii + 276 pp.
Trautman, M.B. 1981. The fishes of Ohio with illustrated keys, revised edition. Ohio State University Press. Columbus, OH. xxv + 782 pp.
Winterton, G. [Ed]. 2005. The comprehensive bait guide for eastern Canada, the Great Lakes region and northeastern United States: identifying, harvesting and culture of baitfishes, crayfishes, frogs and leeches. University of Toronto Press. Toronto, ON. iv + 437 pp.