(Percidae: Etheostoma), with Descriptions of Five New Species

Bulletin 30 NOVEMBER 1, 2012Fig. 1. Distribution of five taxonomic forms of Doration recognized by Howell (1980a, 1980b, 1980c) as distinct species.Map provided by Division of Fishes, University of Michigan Museum of Zoology and used with permission.and treated the subgenus as the single polytypic speciesE. stigmaeum, consisting of three subspecies; however, otherscontinued to recognize E. jessiae as a separate species(Bailey et al., 1970; Robins et al., 1980). In reassessing thestatus of apparent intergrades and considering evidencesuggesting reproductive isolation between two sympatricforms, Howell (1980a, 1980b, 1980c) later recognized fivedistinct species (Fig. 1) (cited by Etnier and Starnes, 1994,as pers. comm. with Howell). These included: 1) E. stigmaeum,occurring from Gulf Coastal drainages, up the lowerMississippi River Basin, west into the Arkansas and Whiteriver drainages, and east into the lower Tennessee, Cumberland,and Green river drainages; 2) E. jessiae, endemicto the Tennessee River drainage; 3) E. meadiae of the upperClinch and Powell rivers in the upper Tennessee Riverdrainage; 4) a species endemic to Caney Fork River of theCumberland River drainage, since described as E. akatuloby Layman and Mayden (2009); and 5) an undescribedE. jessiae-like species known only from a single collectionfrom Stones River in the Cumberland River drainage.Most authorities continue to either recognize only E. stigmaeumand E. jessiae as species (Page, 1983; Robins et al.,1991; Mayden et al., 1992) or treat all taxa as subspecies ofE. stigmaeum (Etnier and Starnes, 1994; Jenkins and Burkhead,1994).Howell’s (1968) study was based mainly on preservedmuseum specimens. While he described male breedingcoloration in Mobile Basin specimens (Howell and Boschung,1966), his color descriptions of other Doration taxa(Howell, 1968) suggest he did not have fresh breeding materialfrom throughout the range of the subgenus. Colordescriptions and plates in Kuehne and Barbour (1983),Page (1983), Robison and Buchanan (1988), Burkheadand Jenkins (1991), and other sources indicate remarkablegeographic variation in breeding coloration amongtaxa, especially within the widespread nominal form E.