orangethroat darter
Etheostoma spectabile (Agassiz, 1854)
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
The orangethroat darter (Etheostoma spectabile) 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 central and eastern United States where it is native to parts of the Mississippi River Basin and Lake Erie Basin.
Its typical habitat includes shallow gravel riffles in cooler streams and rocky runs and pools in headwaters, creeks, and small rivers, with sand, gravel, rubble, or rock substrates. It forages on the bottom for the aquatic larvae of midges, blackfly, mayfly and caddisfly, as well as isopods and amphipods. Spawning takes place in spring, the selected sites often being the upper stretches of riffles with sandy and gravelly bottoms interspersed with larger cobble. Reproductive success is high in this species. No particular threats have been identified, and the International Union for Conservation of Nature has assessed its conservation status as being of "least concern".
Wikipedia contributors, Orangethroat darter; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T07:41:21.007550+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Etheostoma spectabile (Agassiz, 1854)
- Name authority
- (Agassiz, 1854)
- Common name
- orangethroat darter
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Teleostei
- Order
- Perciformes
- Family
- Percidae
- Genus
- Etheostoma
- Extinction status
- Not supplied by this source
Source habitat flags: Marine: no · Freshwater: yes · Terrestrial: no. These do not form a complete habitat description.
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- gigaclassActinopterygii
- superclassActinopteri
- classTeleostei
- orderPerciformes
- suborderPercoidei
- familyPercidae Rafinesque, 1815
- subfamilyEtheostomatinae Agassiz, 1850
- genusEtheostoma Rafinesque, 1819
- speciesEtheostoma spectabile (Agassiz, 1854)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Etheostoma. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Etheostoma artesiae (Hay, 1881) | PercidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Etheostoma asprigene (Forbes, 1878) | PercidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Etheostoma autumnale Mayden, 2010 | PercidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Etheostoma barbouri Kuehne & Small, 1971 | PercidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Etheostoma basilare Page, Hardman & Near, 2003 | PercidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Etheostoma bellator Suttkus & Bailey, 1993 | PercidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Etheostoma bison Ceas & Page, 1997 | PercidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Etheostoma boschungi Wall & Williams, 1974 | PercidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Etheostoma burri Ceas & Page, 1997 | PercidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Etheostoma cervus Powers & Mayden, 2003 | PercidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Etheostoma chermocki Boschung, Mayden & Tomelleri, 1992 | PercidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Etheostoma chlorobranchium Zorach, 1972 | PercidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Poecilichthys spectabilis Agassiz, 1854 Agassiz, 1854 | synonym |
| Etheostoma spectabile squamosum Distler, 1968 Distler, 1968 | synonym |
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=954587 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:3BL6Z. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.