Wildlife Watching Wednesday: The Colorful Brook Darter

By: Tom Berg

In the United States there is an obscure group of very small freshwater fish that most people have never heard of – and certainly never seen. These fish are called darters, and they are in the perch family. There are at least 225 species of darters in North America, and most of them sport dazzling colors during the spring spawning season. One of the most stunning of these is the Brook Darter.

Brook darters can only be found in the Black River drainage in southeast Missouri. These tiny, minnow-sized fish are typically only 2-3 inches long, and they inhabit the clear, rocky creeks of this area. During the springtime, male brook darters develop bright colors to attract females while they defend their small territories against other males. Vivid blue, orange and red colors make the males a spectacular sight at this time of year.

Darters often move along the stream bottom’s pebbles and rocks by quickly darting from one spot to the next. That is likely how they got the name “darter”. They tend to dash out from behind a rock to grab some food that is drifting past in the stream’s current. Some of their favorite foods are mosquito larvae, aquatic midges, nymphs of stoneflies and mayflies, and many other tiny aquatic critters.

Brook darters, like most other darter species, typically only live in clean streams that are very clear and silt-free. They also do not tolerate polluted waters. So when you find them, you can be sure that the creek or stream where they are living has very good water quality. That’s good for them and all of the other creatures that live there, too.

On the rare occasions when people come in contact with darters like the brook darter, it is usually when those people are seining or collecting minnows to use as fishing bait. Recently, however, some anglers have begun searching for these beautiful native fish by fishing for them with tiny “micro-sized” fishing hooks. It is called “microfishing”. They catch them, photograph them and release them. It is a great way to see and appreciate these tiny, colorful fish!

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