Pirate perch

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Pirate perch
Aphredoderus sayanus sayanus.jpg
Pirate perch.JPG
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Percopsiformes
Suborder: Aphredoderoidei
Family: Aphredoderidae
Bonaparte, 1846
Genus: Aphredoderus
Lesueur in Cuvier & Valenciennes, 1833
Species:
A. sayanus
Binomial name
Aphredoderus sayanus
(Gilliams, 1824)
Subspecies
  • Aphredoderus sayanus gibbosusLeSueur, 1833
  • Aphredoderus sayanus sayanus(Gilliams, 1824)
Synonyms
  • Scolopsis sayanus Gilliams, 1824
  • Aphredoderus sayanus sayanus (Gilliams, 1824)
  • Aphredoderus gibbosus Lesueur, 1833
  • Aphredoderus sayanus gibbosus Lesueur, 1833
  • Sternotremia isolepis Nelson, 1876
  • Aphrodedirus cookianus Jordan, 1877
  • Asternotremia mesotrema Jordan, 1877

The pirate perch (Aphredoderus sayanus) is a freshwater fish that commonly inhabits coastal waters along the east coast of the United States and the backwater areas of the Mississippi Valley. [2] This species is often found towards the bottom of clear, warm water habitats with low currents. These fish are normally solitary, carnivorous, and nocturnal. The pirate perch is known to consume live mosquito larva, amphipods, glass shrimp, meal worms, small fish, dragonfly and stonefly larvae, and earthworms. [3]

Contents

The pirate perch is related to the trout-perches, but only loosely; it is the only species in its family, Aphredoderidae. The specific name sayanus is a tribute to naturalist Thomas Say. [4] Charles C. Abbott gave the fish its common name after observing it eating only other fishes. [4]

Description

This small fish is up to 14 cm (5.5 in) in total length. [5] It is dark brown, sometimes with a darker band near the base of the tail. In young individuals the anus is located between the pelvic fins, but migrates forward as the fish grows, before it settles on the throat region. [6]

Pirate perch may be the only known animal to exhibit a chemical camouflage, or crypsis that is generalized and effective among a wide number of potential prey species. [7] [8]

Distribution

The pirate perch is a freshwater species found in temperate climates where the water temperature generally ranges from 5 to 26 °C (41–79 °F). [5] They are found most commonly in central and eastern North America. The pirate perch occurs in rivers of the Atlantic and Gulf slopes, the Mississippi Valley, and scattered parts of the eastern Great Lakes Basin. [9] The subspecies A. s. gibbosus occurs west of the Eastern Continental Divide and in the Gulf of Mexico basin west of the Mississippi River, while the nominate subspecies occurs along most of the Atlantic coast north of the Florida–Georgia border; intergrades are found from Florida to Mississippi. [10] : 323–324  Pirate perch once occurred in Pennsylvania, in the Delaware River drainage, [10] : 323, 338  but have since likely been extirpated, according to the Nature Conservancy. [11] The species may also be extirpated in Ohio. [10] : 338  Its geographic range is very limited in the United States, and the creation of dams and the increasing effects of urbanization are restricting the overall habitat size for the fish, which could eventually lead to this species becoming extirpated in some areas.

Ecology

These fish can be found in densely vegetated areas, places with woody debris, and underneath banks in root masses. Debris in deep water with undercut banks and slow inside flows are used more by this species. The area where the perch reside is dependent on their size, with medium to large perch occupying places that were more structurally complex than small ones. They are known to congregate in these areas to avoid predation from piscivorous birds, otters, or mink. [12] The pirate perch has nocturnal feeding habits; their diet consists of live mosquito larva, amphipods, glass shrimp, meal worms, small fish, dragonfly and stonefly larvae, and earthworms. [3]

Life history

Breeding occurs from October to December in Florida [13] and in Louisiana as early as February. [14] Most breeding occurs around early April until May, depending on latitude. [12] When breeding, pirate perch use underwater root masses as the microhabitat for their larvae. Females have been observed thrusting their heads into sheltered canals of underwater root masses and releasing eggs. The male perch then come to these sites, enter the canal head-first, and proceed to fertilize the eggs in the same manner they were laid. [12] Females can lay between 100 and 400 eggs, which is dependent on the body size. They are able to reproduce after one year, and can live up to four years in the wild. [15]

This species' method of breeding was misunderstood for quite some time due to difficulties in making in situ observations. [2] At first, the urogenital positioning of the pirate perch was speculated to serve to promote egg transfer to the fish's gill (branchial) chamber for gill-brooding. [12] However, the pirate perch was found to not brood bronchially; instead, they lay their eggs within underwater root masses which are then fertilized by the males. [12] [14] Nevertheless, a unique spawning behavior has been observed, which has been referred to as transbranchioral ("through the gill chamber"). When the eggs are laid, they are transferred directly from the urogenital to the gill chamber and then spat out through the mouth into the substrate. [16] Among fish, gill-brooding is only known from Amblyopsis cavefish. [17]

Current management

According to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, some major threats that could affect their habitats could be siltation due to poor upland treatment. Since these fish reside in habitats with slight water current, a change upstream such as water channels, dams, or drainages could alter the flow of water in that system, which could change the rate at which water flows downstream. Water pollution as a result from agricultural runoff and discharge from urban areas can create environments unsuitable for these species. Ohio has expressed some interest in conserving the species due to the perch having such a small area it can inhabit in the northwestern part of the state. Besides Ohio, little concern has been shown about this species overall.

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Warmouth</span> Species of fish

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rock bass</span> Species of freshwater fish

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crypsis</span> Aspect of animal behaviour and morphology

In ecology, crypsis is the ability of an animal or a plant to avoid observation or detection by other animals. It may be a predation strategy or an antipredator adaptation. Methods include camouflage, nocturnality, subterranean lifestyle and mimicry. Crypsis can involve visual, olfactory or auditory concealment. When it is visual, the term cryptic coloration, effectively a synonym for animal camouflage, is sometimes used, but many different methods of camouflage are employed by animals or plants.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northern hogsucker</span> Species of fish

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bluebreast darter</span> Species of fish

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The olive 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 native to Tennessee, Kentucky, North Carolina, and Georgia, in the United States. It is found in the headwaters of Tennessee River system and the middle reaches of the Cumberland River system, its ideal habitat being clear, cold water over rocky substrates. It grows to a length of about 5 in (13 cm) and is an insectivore, feeding mainly on insect larvae on the riverbed. The fish matures at age two and lives till about age four. Up to 1500 eggs are spawned which fall to the riverbed and get lodged among gravel. The olive darter is classified as a "vulnerable species", being affected by habitat destruction and siltation, often resulting from damming and impoundment of the rivers or the creation of weirs. It is also affected by the change in the forest riparian habitat resulting from the killing of trees by the hemlock woolly adelgid.

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<i>Amblyopsis</i> Genus of fishes

Amblyopsis is a genus of small fish in the family Amblyopsidae that are endemic to the central and eastern United States. Like other cavefish, they lack pigmentation and are blind. The most recently described species was in 2014. Uniquely among fish, Amblyopsis brood their eggs in the gill chambers. It was formerly incorrectly speculated that the same brooding behavior existed in other genera in the family and in the pirate perch. During the Pleistocene period, the modern Ohio river was a barrier of dispersal and created a great genetic variation, leading to two phylogenetically distinct lineages from the species Amblyopsis.

Spotfin chub is a ray-finned fish in the family Cyprinidae that is endemic to the Tennessee River watershed. Its other common names include turquoise shiner and chromium shiner.

Percina aurora, the pearl darter is a small 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 native to the United States, where it is known only from Louisiana and Mississippi, but seems no longer to be present in the Pearl River. Its total area of occupation is under 200 km2 (77 sq mi), it is a rare species and a candidate for federal protection. It is threatened by siltation, pollution, habitat destruction and urbanization, and as a result, the International Union for Conservation of Nature has classified its conservation status as being "endangered".

References

  1. ↑ NatureServe (2013). "Aphredoderus sayanus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2013: e.T202607A2746073. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2013-1.RLTS.T202607A2746073.en . Retrieved 13 April 2023.
  2. 1 2 Boltz, J.M.; Stauffer Jr, J.R. (1986). "Branchial brooding in the pirate perch, Aphredoderus sayanus(Gilliams)". Copeia. 1986 (4): 1030–1031. doi:10.2307/1445309. JSTOR   1445309.
  3. 1 2 Parker, N.C.; Simco, B.A. (1975). "Activity patterns, feeding and behavior of the Pirate Perch,Aphredoderus sayanus". Copeia. 1975 (3): 572–574. doi:10.2307/1443661. JSTOR   1443661.
  4. 1 2 Becker, George C. (1983). Fishes of Wisconsin. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press. p. 735. ISBN   0-299-08790-5.
  5. 1 2 Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.) (2017). "Aphredoderus sayanus" in FishBase . July 2017 version.
  6. ↑ Fishes of Arkansas (p)
  7. ↑ Resetarits Jr., William J.; Binckley, Christopher A. (2013). "Is the pirate really a ghost? Evidence for generalized chemical camouflage in an aquatic predator, pirate perch Aphredoderus sayanus" (PDF). The American Naturalist. 181 (5): 690–699. doi:10.1086/670016. PMID   23594551. S2CID   26747440. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 4, 2016. Retrieved June 1, 2013.
  8. ↑ Resetarits Jr., William J.; Pintar, Matthew R. (2016). "Functional diversity of non-lethal effects, chemical camouflage, and variation in fish avoidance in colonizing beetles" (PDF). Ecology. 97 (12): 3517–3529. Bibcode:2016Ecol...97.3517R. doi:10.1002/ecy.1593. PMID   27912024.
  9. ↑ Boltz, J.M.; Stauffer Jr, J.R. (1993). "Systematics of Aphredoderus sayanus (Teleostei: Aphredoderidae)". Copeia. 1993 (1): 81–98. doi:10.2307/1446298. JSTOR   1446298.
  10. 1 2 3 Burr, Brooks M.; Warren, Jr., Melvin L. (2020). "Chapter 22, Aphredoderidae: Pirate Perches". In Warren, Jr., M.L.; Burr, B.M.; Echelle, A.A.; Kuhajda, B.R.; Ross, S.T. (eds.). Freshwater Fishes of North America. Vol. 2. Illustrated by Joseph R. Tomelleri. Baltimore, Maryland: Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 322–339. ISBN   978-1-4214-1202-3 . Retrieved 13 April 2023– via U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service.
  11. ↑ NatureServe (7 April 2023). "Aphredoderus sayanus". NatureServe Network Biodiversity Location Data accessed through NatureServe Explorer. Arlington, Virginia: NatureServe. Retrieved 13 April 2023.
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 Fletcher, D. E.; Dakin, E. E.; Porter, B. A.; Avise, J. C. (2004). "Spawning behavior and genetic parentage in the pirate perch (Aphredoderus sayanus), a fish with an enigmatic reproductive morphology". Copeia. 2004: 1–10. doi:10.1643/ce-03-160r. S2CID   37827490.
  13. ↑ McLane, W.M. 1955. The fishes of the St. Johns River system. Ph.D. dissertation, University of Florida, 361 pp.
  14. 1 2 Fontenot, Q. C.; Rutherford, D. A. (1999). "Observations on the reproductive ecology of pirate perch Aphredoderus sayanus". Journal of Freshwater Ecology. 14 (4): 545–549. Bibcode:1999JFEco..14..545F. doi:10.1080/02705060.1999.9663712.
  15. ↑ Pflieger, W'. 1975. The Fishes of Missouri. Missouri: Missouri Department of Conservation.
  16. ↑ Poly, W.A. & J.E. Wetzel (2003). "Transbranchioral spawning: novel reproductive strategy observed for the pirate perch Aphredoderus sayanus (Aphredoderidae)". Ichthyol. Explor. Freshwaters. 14 (2): 151–158.
  17. ↑ Armbruster, J.W.; M.L. Niemiller & P.B. Hart (2016). "Morphological Evolution of the Cave-, Spring-, and Swampfishes of the Amblyopsidae (Percopsiformes)". Copeia. 104 (3): 763–777. doi:10.1643/ci-15-339. S2CID   53608365.
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