oops- just checked the ME Game and inland fisheries web site and...
(see material copiedd from their site below). If your records are still 45mi
N of the sites below, then I'd call the ME aquatic biologist and tell him
that you discovered a new locality. If not, I'd reconsider keeping the fish.
btw, haven't forgotten about your reprint package, just bogged down with a
couple 1000 other things to do first (YES, Martin, it's ALMOST done!) :)
cheers,
Dave
>...The furthest into Maine
>that Darters are found according to all accounts I have seen is the
>Ogunquit river. That would be the E. fusiforme. This darter is tiny,
> >barely 3/4 of an inch, but appears to be fusiforme. We are about 45
> >miles north of their known range...
Swamp Darter
Scientific Name: Etheostoma fusiforme
Taxonomic Group: Fish
Range in Maine: Southern Maine; known only from three small coastal
drainages (York River, Great Works River, and Neddick River) in York County.
Habitat: Weedy areas in coastal lowland ponds and streams
Seasonal Residency: Year-round
State Listing Status: Threatened
Federal Listing Status: None
Basis for Listing: The Swamp Darter is Threatened in Maine because of its
extremely limited distribution, being found in only three, small coastal
drainages in southern York County. Compounding that fact, the drainages are
highly modified by dams, thus restricting fish passage, and the lands
surrounding them are under heavy development pressures.
Populations of this species are probably relatively small and fragmented,
but individuals should be expected to occur throughout these drainages
wherever suitable habitat occurs. In 1992, Dick Arsenault, MDIFW Regional
Fisheries Biologist, reported the species as abundant in some streams within
the drainages, especially below Chase Pond. Subsequent surveys by MDIFW in
1996-1997 discovered additional small populations in Folly Pond, Chicks
Brook, and Hooper's Brook.
The Swamp Darter reaches its northern range limits in southern Maine, and
occurs along the Atlantic coast from Maine to North Carolina.
Selected References:
Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife: Fisheries Division files;
Endangered Species/Natural Heritage files; and other unpubl. files.
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