Re: NANFA-- rainbow darter coloration

Mark (mbinkley_at_columbus.rr.com)
Fri, 20 Jul 2001 14:24:54 -0400

At 12:24 AM +0700 7/21/01, anutej_at_loxinfo.co.th wrote:
>I wonder that is the rainbow darter with red spots on the side like in
>the 1st pic of Peterson field guide plate 46 found everywhere within
>the species range or is it restricted to a certain area?
>
>Tony

There is a lot of variation in the coloration of E caeruleum from place to
place, between individuals in one stream, and at different times of the
year. I would guess that the lighter colored male shown at the top of the
page is from a stream with light colored substrate. The "spots" are likely
a representation of individual scales that have a lot of red pigment on
them. Look for a stream, maybe in the western part of the range, with a
light colored gravel bottom in bright sunlight. I would expect rainbows
from such a habitat to have less of the darker, blue pigment and thus
display more of the lighter, red pigment.

Mark
Columbus Ohio USA <))><
mbinkley_at_columbus.rr.com

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