If you catch an eastern sand darter by accident, observe the law: return the fish to the water immediately to give it the best possible chance of surviving. Learn how to recognize this threatened species. Ecological Importance/Niche: The Eastern Sand Darter is a small (4 cm to 7 cm or 1.57 inches to 2.76 inches) sedentary percid fish. Eastern Sand Darter (Ammocrypta pellucida) Fact Sheet adapted from: Felbaum, Mitchell, et al. Creature Profile. Read More. At least 21 darter species have been recorded in Pennsylvania, especially in the Allegheny River watershed. 2004; Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) 2011). Predation and competition from the Round Goby has been implicated in declines of several darter species in lakes Erie and St. Clair (COSEWIC 2009). The Eastern Sand Darter (Etheostoma pellucidum) is a species of concern belonging in the species group "fishes" and found in the following area(s): Canada, United States. Since the Eastern Sand Darter buries itself and its eggs in the substrate, the consequence of toxic substances may be greater on Eastern Sand Darter than other fishes (Grandmaison et al. Biologists from Indiana University working in the Pittsburgh area in 1886 reported that they were “common everywhere in suitable places” in 2004, Gaudreau 2005, NatureServe 2012). To find out more. The eastern sand darter (Ammocrypta pellucida) 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.The eastern sand darter is a relatively small fish, most plentiful in the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers, as well as Lake Champlain and the Great Lakes. Several are endangered or threatened in the state: The Bluebreast Darter, Eastern Sand Darter, Gilt Darter, Longhead Darter, Spotted Darter and Tippecanoe Darter. Furthermore, an occupancy modelling study (Dextrase et al. The Eastern Sand Darter is not very flexible in terms of habitat needs (i.e., it is dependent on silt-free sand), thus it is vulnerable to any factor likely to affect its habitat (COSEWIC 2000, Grandmaison et al. Fishers: do not use eastern sand darters as baitfish. 2004). The eastern sand darter was historically much more widespread than it is today. The Eastern Sand Darter (Ammocrypta pellucida) is a small benthic riverine fish federally listed as threatened in Canada and listed as threatened in many states in its American distribution (Grandmaison et al. My research is directed toward informing the recovery and management of freshwater fishes listed under the Species at Risk Act in Canada. Eastern Sand Darter was detected as a result of non-target surveys within the Grand, Sydenham, and Thames rivers as well as Lake St. Clair. The Eastern Sand Darter is considered to be intolerant to pollution (Barbour et al. Share. The Sand Darter is designated as Threatened by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC). The large darter group in the perch family includes 146 North American species. In 1869, naturalist Edward Drinker Cope reported collecting eastern sand darters from the Youghiogheny River. Endangered and Threatened Species of Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania Endangered Fish Species State Rank: S1 (critically imperiled) Global Rank: G3 (vulnerable) Identification Harrisburg, PA: Wild Resource Conservation Fund, 1995. This article is only an excerpt. 1999) but species-specific tolerances have not been investigated. by Eastern Sand Darter, and ranges for these two species now overlap for all 4 river systems where the Eastern Sand Darter occurs. Myself with the federally Threatened Eastern Sand Darter, Ammocrypta pellucida I am a Research Biologist with Fisheries and Oceans Canada at the Great Lakes Laboratory for Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences. 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