Orange-throated Darters on McDowell Creek

Orange-throated Darters on McDowell Creek, engaged in a communal spawn:

(Many thanks to Keith Gido, KSU fish expert, for explaining what the video shows!)

Here is a closeup of one of those tiny fish:   

And here is one of the males, all decked out for breeding season:

Many thanks to Pat Silovsky for showing us how to
photograph one of these elusive fish!  

The narrow plate-glass aquarium allowed
us to temporarily detain this handsome male long
enough to photograph him.  But it did not allow 
him to show his usual pose, which is hidden under 
debris on the bottom!

It's not easy to get a good look at a Darter.   

In fact, for years I didn't see them clearly enough to know if they were fish at all.  

I would see them scuttling across the bottom and diving under debris, where they hid from view.    I would catch the briefest glimpse of a dinosaur-looking head and proto-legs just behind it, sticking out to the side.   

What were they?  Tadpoles?  Lizards?  Some sort of larvae?  

Finally, I saw one in the open long enough to see the fins.  What had looked like proto-legs were actually fins stuck off to the side to keep the Darter close to the bottom:  

Nature educator Pat Silovsky explains more about Darters:

Director of Milford Nature Center

and stream ecologist

Dr. Pat Silovsky visited McDowell Creek on March 19, 2021.    

Orange-throated Darters are bottom-scuttlers--but they are also beautiful fish.

--Post by Margy Stewart, Prairie Heritage, Inc.  

All photos and videos are from McDowell Creek, Bird Runner Wildlife Refuge, Geary County, Kansas.