Adapting to Taxonomic Change in Darters (Etheostomatinae): Reassessment of Preserved Specimens in a Natural History Collection

Ryley I. Parker¹, Kyler B. Hecke^1,*, and Charlie J. Gagen¹

¹Arkansas Tech University, Department of Biological Sciences, McEver Hall 34-E, 1701 North Boulder Avenue, Russellville, AR 72801. *Corresponding author.

Southeastern Naturalist, Volume 23, Issue 2 (2024): 231–244

First published early online: 26 June 2024

Abstract
Etheostoma punctulatum (Stippled Darter) was recently redescribed to recognize 2 additional species, E. autumnale (Autumn Darter) and E. mihileze (Sunburst Darter), as part of the E. punctulatum species complex. This taxonomic update rendered the collection of Stippled Darters in the Arkansas Tech Fish Collection (ATFC) inaccurate since the stored specimens were collected well before and just after the redescriptions. Upon reassessment, we found that the ATFC did not contain any specimens now considered as Stippled Darters but, instead, contained specimens of the 2 newly described species and misidentified Nothonotus juliae (Yoke Darter). We concluded that the collection consisted of 54 Autumn Darters, 96 Sunburst Darters, and 220 Yoke Darters. Additionally, external quantitative and qualitative characteristics did not exactly follow the expected trends as laid out in the study that described the new species. This study serves as a small, but clear, example of the importance of curating and updating natural history collections like that of the ATFC, for they play a vital role in a number of different areas of study including biogeographic range changes, phenological shifts, evolutionary changes, and more.

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