Darters You may be less familiar with darters, but there are 146 North American species of darters, and at least 21 species have been recorded in Pennsylvania. Several darters are endangered or threatened in Pennsylvania. Some species of darters require such clean, clear water that these fish are indicators of water quality. There is high quality water when these species are present in a stream, and there is degraded (poor) quality water when these fish disappear from a stream. The darter gets its name from its behavior of resting on the bottom of the stream and then quickly darting away under a rock or similar hiding space. Darters behave this way and lurk near the bottom, because these fish have a small swim bladder or no swim bladder at all. As a result, darters cannot easily move up and down from the surface to the bottom. Greenside Darter (Etheostoma blennioides) Tessellated Darter (Etheostoma olmstedi) Rainbow Darter (Etheostoma caeruleum) Banded Darter (Etheostoma zonale) Johnny Darter (Etheostoma nigrum) Logperch (Percina caprodes) 48 Pennsylvania Angler & Boater * March/April 2020 www.fishandboat.comhttp://www.fishandboat.com