Watercress darter

Taxobox
name = Watercress darter
status = EN
status_system = iucn2.3


image_width = 150px
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Actinopterygii
ordo = Perciformes
familia = Percidae
genus = "Etheostoma"
species = "E. nuchale"
binomial = "Etheostoma nuchale"
binomial_authority = Howell & Caldwell, 1965The watercress darter is a small colorful fish which lives in the Black Warrior River drainage basin near Birmingham, Alabama. The largest known female is 2.5 inches in length.

The species can be found in the watercress zone of springs. They feed on snails, crustaceans and insect larvae. The species is endangered and is protected in areas such as the Watercress Darter National Wildlife Refuge in Jefferson County. The species is only known to exist in four specific bodies of water, two of them in the refuge.

On September 22, 2008, more than 1,000 watercress darters were killed when workers from the city of Birmingham removed a dam at Roebuck Springs, emptying a pond that was the darter's habitat. The pond was emptied because it often flooded a nearby tennis court. The city emptied the pond without the permission of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. [cite news|url=http://www.al.com/birminghamnews/stories/index.ssf?/base/news/122215777510060.xml&coll=2|publisher="The Birmingham News"|last=Bouma|first=Katherine|title=Dam removal kills more than 1,000 endangered fish at Roebuck Springs|date=2008-09-23] The FWS has ordered that the dam be restored and the pond refilled in an effort to save the remaining darters. [cite news|url=http://www.al.com/birminghamnews/stories/index.ssf?/base/news/1222244170184290.xml&coll=2|publisher="The Birmingham News"|last=Bouma|first=Katherine|title=U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service orders endangered watercress darter pond restored in Birmingham|date=2008-09-24]

References

External links

* Listed as Endangered (EN B1+2ce v2.3)
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