Right: Conservation scientists with the Tennessee Aquarium Conservation Institute use a seine net to collect Tangerine Darters for a mussel propagation project. Bernie Kuhajda wades in the Tellico River. “You don’t have - pun intended - all your eggs in one basket.” “The advantage to this is you have a better chance of laying eggs during the optimal temperature and water flow and sunlight if you do it multiple times over the spawning season,” Kuhajda says. A single female may produce 400 to 1,100 eggs in a year via clutches consisting of 50 to 60 eggs. Tangerine Darters are multiple-clutch spawners, which means that instead of laying a single, massive clutch, they will produce many smaller clutches. Males then arrive, and breeding pairs will release eggs and milt at the same time before burying the fertilized eggs beneath the substrate. When it’s time to spawn, female Tangerine Darters dig into the fine gravel or sand substrate at the bottom of the river. When they reach two to four years old, they spawn in May and June as water temperatures begin to warm with onset of summer. Wild Tangerine darters typically live to be just over four years old. “That is really unusual for most darters,” Kuhajda says. Yet another characteristic that sets Tangerines apart. Unlike their cousins, Tangerine Darters do have a swim bladder, and they can spend as much as 25 percent of their lives above the bottom of the river. Still-maturing juveniles patterns tend to be more black-and-white. Adults sport intensely orange bellies with distinctive black striping. “That’s pretty big for what you might typically consider to be a little fish.” “They’re one of the bigger darters and can get over seven inches long,” Kuhajda says. While most darters are small, flighty fish that spend their days hiding among the rocks and substrate of river and stream beds, Tangerine Darters are a notable exception. Currently, they are listed as a species of “least concern” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Kuhajda adds that Tangerine Darters are thriving in their range. Bernie Kuhajda, who works extensively with Tangerine Darters at the Tennessee Aquarium Conservation Institute. “Most of the time where they’re found, they’re the most common, large-bodied darter,” says Aquatic Conservation Biologist Dr. Most of the Tangerine Darter’s range is restricted to Tennessee, but they are found in parts of Virginia, North Carolina and Georgia. Tangerine Darters: big, bold and brightly colored Right: A Tangerine Darter collected by a Tennessee Aquarium Conservation Institute field team is contained in a temporary viewing aquarium. Left: A Tangerine Darter rests on substrate. There are more than 200 species of darters, and the greatest diversity of darter species is found right here in the Southeast. Lacking this ability, darters spend most of their time sitting on the bottom of the river when not actively rapidly swimming (darting) around their habitat. This small, balloon-like organ allows fish to control their buoyancy in the water, moving up and down with ease. Topping out at about seven inches long - practically a giant among typically finger-length darters - the Tangerine Darter is also a notoriously curious species, fearlessly inspecting nearby snorkelers.Īll in all, the Tangerine Darter is a fine ambassador for Tennessee’s life-filled waterways and a vital player in the aquatic ecosystems that keep our drinking water clean and our waters enjoyable for recreation.ĭarters are a group of fishes found only in the eastern reaches of North America, from Northern Mexico to Southern and Eastern Canada.īelonging to the same family as Walleye, Sauger and Perch, darters are sometimes called the “warblers of the underwater world,” because – like the warblers of the sky – they’re usually small, difficult to spot and brightly colored, especially during spawning season. Beneath the fast-flowing waters of the upper Tennessee River swims a large and gregarious darter that stands out among a family of otherwise small and secretive fishes.įlitting among the riffles, runs and pools of pristine aquatic habitats, the Tangerine Darter’s size and striking orange coloration make it instantly recognizable among the dizzying array of fishes that call these waters home.
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