Ouachita Darter

A species of the subgenus Swainia but distinguished from all other species of Swainia by having the following combination of characters: snout depth is less than snout length; the ratio of snout length to SL is greater than 7.5%; more than 72 pored lateral line scales (mode 76-80); breast is unscaled or partially scaled in males and females; lateral pigmentation on body with 12 to 15 vertically elongated distinct blotches, with seven or more of these blotches between the insertion of the second dorsal fin and the hypural plate; and usually 12 branchiostegal rays (6 on each side).

Dorsal spines (total): 11 - 14; Dorsal soft rays (total): 12 - 15; Analspines: 2; Analsoft rays: 8 - 11; Vertebrae: 39 - 41

Observed to seasonally occupy two different types of habitats. In spring season, breeding individuals typically occurs in gravelbottomed and cobble substrate riffle areas and swift chutes and runs of up to approximately 1 m deep. Inhabits deeper pool habitats for the remainder of the year. Also reported to inhabit deep, swift riffle areas with rocky substratesand thick growths of Podostemon heterophyllum in spring. During fall, a single specimen was collected from a sluggish siltbottom pool at the confluence of the Ouachita River and Lake Ouachita. Also observed to have preference for a late-summer microhabitat of upstream edges of runs that invariably included slight surface agitation and a highpercentage of cobble substrate.

Percina brucethompsoni, the Ouachita darter, is a species of freshwater ray-finned fish, a darter from the subfamily Etheostomatinae, part of the family Percidae, which also contains the perches, ruffes and pikeperches. It is endemic to the Ouachita River system in the Ouachita Mountains in Arkansas. When breeding, in the Spring, they are normally found in riffles and fast runs with gravel or pebble substrates at depths of around 1 metre (3.3 ft). They live in deeper pools during the rest of the year.