Iowa Fish Atlas

Native: Yes

State Rank: S3

ITIS Code: 168372          

National Rank: N4N5           

Global Rank: G4

Modeled By: Anna Loan-Wilsey

State Range:

The mud darter, once classified as a threatened species (Harlan et al. 1987), is now shown through recent collections to be widely spread throughout the Eastern Broadleaf Aquatic Subregion.  It reaches its greatest abundance in the upper pools of the Mississippi River as well as in the Cedar River drainage (Harlan et al. 1987).  In the Central Plains Aquatic Subregion, the mud is found only in center of the state in the Lizard Creek, Skunk River and upper Iowa River watersheds. 

Habitat Affinities:

The mud darter inhabits a variety of habitats including bayous of moderate size, overflow pools, creeks, slow flowing streams, and especially quiet, muddy sloughs and the mouths of streams and rivers tributary to large rivers (Clay 1975; Eddy and Underhill 1974; Etnier and Starnes 1993; Phillips et. al. 1982; Robison and Buchanan 1988). The mud darter is most abundant clear lowland waters with sluggish to moderate current over substrates ranging from sand and detritus to mixtures of sand, gravel, and silt (Eddy and Underhill 1974; Etnier and Starnes 1993; Robison and Buchanan 1988). In Iowa and parts of Missouri, the mud darter is most abundant in river-bottom lakes, ponds, sluggish, murky riffles, pools and backwaters of ditches, streams, oxbow lakes and impoundments with fine gravel, sand and hardpan substrates often mixed with abundant organic debris (Harlan et al. 1987; Pflieger 1997). In large rivers and low gradient streams, it reaches high abundance within “dense mats of finely divided tree roots” along the shoreline (Pflieger 1997).  Despite its common name and preferred habitat, the mud darter is not precluded from inhabiting pools of clear waters (Kuehne and Barbour 1983).  Etnier and Starnes (1993) found that the mud darter migrates from riffles during daytime to pools at night.

Predictive Model(s):

Statewide Model: Range Only

The distribution is based upon existing collection records and professional review.

Mississippi River Model:

The distribution is based upon existing collection records and professional review.

("pool" >= 'S08' AND "pool" <= 'S14')

Overall Prediction:

("pool" >= 'S08' AND "pool" <= 'S14')

Literature Cited:

Clay, W.M.  1975.  The fishes of Kentucky.  Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources, Frankfort, Kentucky.  416 pp.

Eddy, S., and J.C. Underhill.  1974.  Northern fishes; with special reference to the upper Mississippi Valley.  University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, Minnesota.  414 pp.

Etnier, D.A., and W.E. Starnes.  1993.  The fishes of Tennessee.  University of Tennessee Press, Knoxville, Tennessee.  681 pp.

Harlan, J.R., E.B. Speaker, and J. Mayhew.  1987.  Iowa fish and fishing. Iowa Conservation Commission, Des Moines, Iowa. 323pp.

Kuehne, R.A., and R.W. Barbour.  1983.  The American darters.  University Press of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky.  177 pp.

Pflieger, W.L.  1997.  The fishes of Missouri.  Missouri Department of Conservation, Jefferson City, Missouri.  372 pp.

Phillips, G.L., W.D. Schmid, and J.C. Underhill.  1982.  Fishes of the Minnesota region.  University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, Minnesota.  248 pp.

Robison, H.W., and T.M. Buchanan. 1988.  Fishes of Arkansas.  University of Arkansas Press, Fayetteville, Arkansas.  536 pp.

Data Sources:

Bernstein, N.P.  2003.  Personal communications and unpublished reports.  Mount Mercy

College, Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Call, R.E.  1890.  The fishes of the Des Moines basin.  Iowa Academy of Sciences 1 pt.2

(1890, 1891):43-56.

Ecological Analysts, Inc.  1983.  Operational ecological study in the Cedar River near

Duane Arnold Energy Center, January through December 1983.  EA Report IEL21.  Iowa Electrical Light and Power Company, Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Gritters, S.A.  1997.  Evaluation of water quality, fish and macroinvertebrates in Rock

Creek.  Fish Management Investigations 1997 Annual Report.  Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Des Moines, Iowa.

Guttenberg Fish Management.  2002.  Field notes and unpublished reports.  Northeast

Management District, Fisheries Bureau, Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Guttenberg, Iowa.

Huggins, D.,  B.W. Menzel,  D. Van Schmus, M. Lary, S.H. Wang, Lian, K. Higgins, D.

Bandi, and A. Cordry.  1996.  Assessment of the effects of nonpoint source pollution on the biotic integrity of Walnut Creek.  Kansas Biological Survey Report 73.  Central Plains Center for BioAssessment at the Kansas Biological Survey, Lawrence, Kansas.

Lake MacBride Fish Management.  2002.  Field notes and unpublished reports. 

Southeast Management District, Fisheries Bureau, Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Solon, Iowa.

Long Term Resource Monitoring Program.  2002.   Pool 13 database, 1990-2001.  Upper

Midwest Environmental Science Center, Bellevue, Iowa.

McDonald, D.B.  1983.  Duane Arnold Energy Center, Cedar River operational

ecological study.  Annual Report, January 1982 through December 1982.  D.B. McDonald Research Inc, Iowa City, Iowa.

Meek, S.E.  1892.  Report upon the fishes of Iowa, based upon observations and

collections mad during 1889, 1890, 1891.  Bulletin of the United States Fish Commission 10(1890):217-248.

Menzel, B.W.  1984.  Field notes: Iowa-Cedar.  Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa.

Mount Mercy College Museum.  2002.  Vertebrate collection database report.  Mount

Mercy College, Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Museum of Natural History.  2002.  Freshwater fish collection.  Division of Zoology,

University of Louisiana at Monroe, Monroe, Louisiana.

Museum of Zoology.  2002.  Division of Fishes collection database.  University of

Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan. http://www.ummz.lsa.umich.edu/. (May, 2002)

Nord, R.C.  1967.  A compendium of fishery information on the Upper Mississippi River.

Upper Mississippi River Conservation Committee, Rock Island, Illinois.

Paragamian, V.L.  1990.  Fish populations of Iowa rivers and streams.  Technical Bulletin

No. 3.  Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Des Moines, Iowa.

UMRCC.  1953.  Revised species list- northern section of the river.  Pages 19-32 in

Proceedings of the Ninth Annual Meeting, Upper Mississippi River Conservation Committee, Rock Island, Illinois.

UMRCC.  1964.  Proceedings of the twentieth annual meeting, January 7, 1964.  Upper

Mississippi River Conservation Committee, Rock Island, Illinois.

Wilton, T., K. Krier, and J. Mootz.  2003.  Stream Biological Assessment Database.

Environmental Services Division, Water Quality Bureau, TMDL and Water Quality Assessment Section, Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Des Moines, Iowa.

Additional References:

Bart, H.L., Jr., and L.M. Page.  1992.  The influence of size and phylogeny on life history variation in North American percids.  Pages 553-572 in R. L. Mayden, editor.  Systematics, historical ecology, and North American freshwater fishes.  Stanford University Press, Stanford, Calfiornia. xxvi + 969 pp.

Becker, G.C.  1983.  Fishes of Wisconsin.  University of Wisconsin Press, Madison. 1052 pp.

Cross, F.B., and J.T. Collins.  1995.  Fishes in Kansas.  University of Kansas Natural History Museum, Public Education Series No. 14, Lawrence, Kansas.   315 pp.

Douglas, N.H.  1974.  Freshwater fishes of Louisiana.  Claitor’s Publishing Division, Sponsored by Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission, Baton Rouge, Louisiana.  443 pp.

Hubbs, C.  1985.  Darter reproductive seasons.  Copeia 1985:56-68.

Kelly, G., editor.  1986.  Animal habitat relations handbook.  Missouri Department of Conservation and U.S.D.A. Forest Service, Jefferson City, Missouri.  293 pp.

Lee, D.S., C.R. Gilbert, C.H. Hocutt, R.E. Jenkins, D.E. McAllister, and J.R. Stauffer, Jr.  1980.  Atlas of North American freshwater fishes.  North Carolina State Museum of Natural History, Raleigh, North Carolina.  867 pp.

Page, L.M., and B.M. Burr.  1991.  A field guide to freshwater fishes: North America north of Mexico.  Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, Massachusetts. 432 pp.

Pflieger, W.L.  1971.  A distributional study of Missouri fishes.  University of Kansas Publications, Museum of Natural History  20(3):225-570.

Pflieger, W.L.  1989a.  Aquatic community classification system for Missouri.  Missouri Department of Conservation.  Jefferson City, Missouri.  Aquatic Series No. 19. 70 pp. plus Supplement.

Pflieger, W.L.  1989b.  The stream resources of Missouri.  D-J Project - F-1-R-28.  Study S-20.  Missouri Department of Conservation, Columbia, Missouri.  

Robins, C.R., R.M. Bailey, C.E. Bond, J.R. Brooker, E.A. Lachner, R.N. Lea, and W.B. Scott.  1991.  Common and scientific names of fishes from the United States and Canada.  American Fisheries Society, Special Publication 20, Bethesda, Maryland. 183 pp.

Smith, P.W.  1979.  The fishes of Illinois.  University of Illinois Press, Urbana, Illinois.  314 pp.

Thom, R.H., and J.H. Wilson.  1980.  The natural divisions of Missouri.  Transactions of the Missouri Academy of Science  14:9-24.

Photo Credits:

Upper Left:       Photo courtesy of William D. Schmid, General College and James Ford Bell Museum of Natural History, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota.

http://www.gen.umn.edu/research/fish/fishes/mud_darter.html

 

Upper Right:     Photo courtesy of Konrad P. Schmidt, copyright Konrad P. Schmidt.