Distribution and Abundance of the Goldstripe Darter (Etheostoma parvipinne) in Missouri

Abstract

From 1997 to 1999, I surveyed for the goldstripe darter (Etheostoma parvipinne), an endangered species in Missouri, to describe its distribution and abundance at 3 scales. At the largest scale, I sampled all small, flowing streams on Crowley's Ridge and the Ozark fall-line in southeastern Missouri. I identified 5 spatially distinct communities by their unique species: the goldstripe darter community, the gizzard shad (Dorosoma cepedianum) community, the orangethroat darter (Etheostoma spectabile)-central stoneroller (Campostoma anomalum) community, the banded pygmy sunfish (Elassoma zonatum) community, and the blacktail shiner (Cyprinella venusta)-blunt-nose minnow (Pimephales notatus) community. Despite exhaustive sampling, I did not find goldstripe darters at Romine Spring, the 1 historic locality on the Ozark fall-line, nor anywhere else on the Ozark fall-line. I did find them in the 3 historically sampled streams in the Holly Ridge area on Crowley's Ridge, plus 3 previously unsampled streams in the immediate vicinity. At an intermediate scale, I failed to capture goldstripe darters in 12 of 18 streams in the Holly Ridge area. The streams without goldstripe darters were associated with human modifications such as gravel mining, small impoundments, household effluent, and pipe culverts. At the smallest scale, I collected 106 goldstripe darters at 15 sites on 6 streams. I estimated total length of habitat for goldstripe darters in Missouri to be 5.7 km of stream. I found that there were more goldstripe darters in a larger area than previously thought; however, goldstripe darters were still one of the rarest fish species in Missouri.