Research Document - 2015/011

An update of River Darter (Percina shumardi) distribution, relative abundance, life history traits, diet and habitat in Canadian waters

By Pratt, T.C., Gardner, W.M., Watkinson, D.A., and Bouvier, L.D.

Abstract

The River Darter (Percina shumardi) is a native, cryptic fish that has been collected haphazardly in central Canada in relatively small numbers since the 1930s. It has a wide geographic distribution, and in Canada populations of River Darter are found in Manitoba, Ontario and Saskatchewan in three National Freshwater Biogeographic Zones – Saskatchewan-Nelson River, Southern Hudson Bay-James Bay, and Great Lakes-Upper St. Lawrence. As many of the Canadian records of River Darter are quite old, in preparation for the status report Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) revisited many of the historic sites and sampled additional areas where possible to confirm and update the distribution of River Darter in Canadian waters, assess relative abundance, update life history characteristics, diet information, and identify characteristics of River Darter habitat. Over one thousand (1032) River Darters were captured in 29 waterbodies throughout the species’ historic range, in relatively high abundance in both the Saskatchewan-Nelson River and Southern Hudson Bay-James Bay biogeographic zones. While still extant in the Great Lakes-Upper St. Lawrence zone, River Darter exist at very low abundance. River Darter in Canadian waters possess similar life history traits and select comparable prey as conspecific populations located in the United States. River Darter reach maturity after their first winter, grow to approximately 40 mm in their first year and slowly thereafter with growth of 10 mm·y. River Darter in these populations live up to 4 years and eat a wide variety of aquatic prey (e.g., chironomids, caddisflies, mayflies, snails and zooplankton). River Darter is a benthic species found in a wide variety of habitats including lotic and lentic waters at varying depths.

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