| Etheostoma percnurum | |
|---|---|
| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Perciformes |
| Family: | Percidae |
| Genus: | Etheostoma |
| Species: | E. percnurum |
| Binomial name | |
| Etheostoma percnurum (Jenkins, 1994) |
|
Etheostoma percnurum is a rare species of fish in the perch family known by the common name duskytail darter. It is native to Kentucky, Tennessee, and Virginia in the United States, where it occurs in the drainages of the Cumberland and Tennessee Rivers.[1] It was federally listed as an endangered species of the United States in 1993,[2] shortly before it was formally described as a new species.
E. percnurum is now considered a species complex. In 2008, examination of the morphology of the fish led researchers to divide it into four species, describing the Citico darter (Etheostoma sitikuense), the marbled darter (Etheostoma marmorpinnum), and the tuxedo darter (Etheostoma lemniscatum) as new. Because E. percnurum carries the endangered species status, the three new species may be given that status.[1]
These fish are threatened by the impoundment of waterways, increased silt, logging, coal mining, pollution, and disease.[3]