Blue Mask Darter (Etheostoma )

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Tennessee Natives- Treasures you can help
protect
BY Melissa Sandrene and Jeff Simmons
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Freshwater Fauna of Tennessee
Tennessee contains the most diverse aquatic fauna
in the United States

• Tennessee is home to
• 300 native fish species (Most diverse in U.S.)

Including..

• Bluemask Darter
• Paddlefish
• Barrens Topminnow
• Blackside Dace

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Bluemask Darter Etheostoma (Doration) sp.

• Federally Endangered Species

• Only 4 populations remain

• These are benthic fish, they like to live on the
  
• bottom of streams

• Eat insects

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Males develop a deep blue color band that looks
like a mask in the spring time to attract female
darters
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Paddlefish Polyodon spathula
Rostrum

• Also called spoonbill catfish in Tennessee

• Ancient big river fish

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Filter Feeders
Gill rakers
Daphnia
Cladoceran
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Barrens topminnowFundulus julisia

• Lives in small springs with lots of aquatic
  plants

• Tends to swims at the surface of the water

• In the spring Male topminnows develop attractive
  blue
• and green scale colors to attract females

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The Barrens topminnow eats
Midges
Amphipods
Snails
Mayflies
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Blackside DacePhoxinus cumberlandensis

• Rare species and listed as threatened species

• Deep red colored belly

• Found above Cumberland Falls in cool water pools
• with lots of tree and bush covering

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Breeding males have tubercleslittle fleshy knobs
that grow on the head and body
Tubercles
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Blackside Dace Feed On
Algae
Diatoms
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Freshwater Fauna of Tennessee

• Tennessee is home to

120 species of freshwater mussels (2nd to
Alabama)
Including..

• Rainbow shell
• Pistolgrip
• Plain pocketbook
• Shiny Pigtoe

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70 of all freshwater mussel species in the
United States are threatened due to destruction
of their adult habitat because of dams and rivers
being dredged
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The Freshwater Mussel Life Cycle
Adult Female Mussel develops a pouch of
eggs inside her shell
The eggs develop into Glochidia
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The Mother mussel must set the glochidia free on
a living host

• The host is often a fish

• Some mussels are picky guests
• they will only allow specific
• kinds of fish be their host

• The glochidia will attach to
• the fishs fins and gills

• Like a butterfly the glochidia
• will form a cocoon
• called a cyst on the fish

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The glochidia will stay on the fish for several
weeks.
Then it will mature and fall off of the fish and
land on the bottom of the stream or river
It is now a juvenile mussel!
Will grow into an adult
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How Does A Mussel Find A Host Fish?
They use the soft tissue that is on the inside of
their shell.called the mantle.

• The shape, color, and how the mussel moves its
  mantle can mimics other animals

Mantle
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What animals do these mussel mantles look like?
The fish thinks the mantle Is food!
When the fish gets close to take a bite
Mom mussel deposits her glochidia onto the host
fish!
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Rainbow-shell Villosa iris

• The smooth shell indicates that this mussel is
  found
• in muddy or sandy streams, lakes, and rivers

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Pistolgrip Tritogonia verrucosa

• The rough and bumpy shell indicates that this
  mussel
• is found in fast moving water that has gravel
  and rock

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Plain Pocketbook Lampsilis cardium
Shiny Pigtoe Fusconaia cor
Some mussels can live to be 100 years old!
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Animals that EAT Freshwater Mussels
River Otter
Raccoon
Muskrat
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Freshwater Mussels Are Filter Feeders

• They suck water in and use their gills (hair
  looking),
• like a strainer, to remove the food from the
  water

• So FW mussels clean the water by eating!

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Freshwater Mussels Eat
Algae
Dead Pieces of Leaves (Detritus)
Bacteria
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Freshwater Fauna of Tennessee

• Tennessee is also home to

76 species of crayfish

One of the richest assemblages of aquatic insects
in North America
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Dragonflies and Damselflies

• Have sharp teeth on their
• mouthparts

• The adults have wings to fly

Helpful Predators

• Eat Mosquitoes

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Dragon Fly Nymphs

• Important to the aquatic food web

• Are indicators of the health of stream environment

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Stoneflies
Adult
Nymph

• Found in clean and cold water streams

• Shredders- they eat live and dead plant material

• Males drum their bellies to attract females

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All these organisms are dependent on each other
and when one component is lost.all are lost
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Why is Tennessee so Diverse?
Tennessees rich aquatic fauna is a result of six
major rock and water barriers that create
unique biodiversity in the east, central, and
western areas of the state.
What is biodiversity?
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Blue Ridge Region East TN

• Rock formations are mostly gneiss, sandstone and
  granite

• Waters are clear, cool and lack aquatic
  vegetation (low prod.)

• Streams are steep with many falls, large
  boulders,
• and fast flowing areas

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Cumberland Plateau Central/East TN

• Sandstone, shale, and coal deposits

• Mostly forested areas with deep and curving
  streams of
• clear water that are not very productive

• Many waterfalls Fall Creek Falls, Burgess
  Falls,
• and Cumberland Falls

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Highland Rim and Nashville Basin Central TN

• Mostly chert and limestone rock formations

• Medium to low productivity with seasonal
  vegetation

• Many cave and spring habitats and several large
  rivers

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Coastal Plain (Mississippi Embayment)
West TN

• Mainly sand, clay, and silt soils

• This area is the main agricultural region in TN
• (ex. soybean cotton)

• Aquatic habitats suffer because of forest
  clearing, pesticide
• runoff, and channelization

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Major Threats to Freshwater Biodiversity

• Dams
• Siltation and Erosion
• Poor land Practices and Deforestation
• Pollutants from industry and people

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Dams Only 2 of the rivers in the U.S. remain
free-flowing and relatively undeveloped
Red Dots are TVA Dam locations
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Tennessee has over 30 dams
Cordell Hull Dam
Norris Dam (historic photo)
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Ways that Dams Damage Rivers

• They remove the water needed for a healthy stream
• Prevent the flow of plants, nutrients, and fish
• Change the water temperature
• Disrupts the natural seasonal flow of water and
  this can
• effect the growth and reproductive cycle of
  many species
• Slowing flows allows silt to collect on the river
  bottom
• and this buries mussel and fish habitat
• Fish are cut up in the power turbines

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Siltation

• Silt clogs the gills of
• filter feeders and
• increases the risk of
• small aquatic animals
• being eaten by predators

Silt can cover the healthy eggs of fish. If the
eggs are covered they cant get oxygen to
growso they die
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Erosion

• Increases sedimentation

• Destroys vegetation that fish
• and other animals use as their
• homes and the cover they use
• to hide from predators

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• Increase siltation and erosion
• destroying wildlife habitat

Poor land Practices

• Cattle and other livestock
• trample and pollute
• stream habitats

Deforestation

• Removing trees increases
• erosion and it harms the
• habitats that fish, mussels,
• and insects live

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Pollutants from Industry and People
Toxic chemicals harm aquatic animals and us!
Trash hurts aquatic animals and it destroys
their homes
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How can you get involved?

• Care about your environment!
• Dont litter
• Recycle bottles, plastic, tin, and aluminum
  containers
• Talk with friends and family about the neat
  animals that are native to Tennessee
• Keep livestock (cows, pigs and goats) fenced in
  out of the river
• Volunteer for stream cleanups

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Questions?