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Information About

Fountain Darter




  Name Fountain darter
  Regnum Animal ia
  Phylum Chordata
  Classis Actinopterygii
  Ordo Perciformes
  Familia Percidae
  Genus '' Etheostoma ''
  Species '''''E fonticola'''''
  Binomial ''Etheostoma fonticola''
  Binomial Authority Jordan & Gilbert, 1886


The fountain darter (''Etheostoma fonticola'') is a small freshwater fish found in the and the San Marcos River . They are generally smaller than 3 cm long. They feed on small invertebrates.

They live in the vegetation at the bottom of clean springwater rivers, the overuse of such springs being the main reason for their depletion. An extra worry for the future of fountain darters is the parasitic, non-native Trematode ('' Centrocestus Formosanus ''), whose impact on the darter population is not yet known. As of 2004 only the Comal population is seriously affected by the parasite. The National Fish Hatchery & Technology Center in San Marcos keeps a reserve population of 500 adults as a hedge against a man-made or natural event wiping out the fish in the wild.

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