Chrosomus cumberlandensisBlackside dace(Also: Mountain Blackside Dace)

Ge­o­graphic Range

Black­side dace (Chro­so­mus cum­ber­lan­den­sis) are found in ap­prox­i­mately 40 trib­u­taries of the Cum­ber­land River in Pu­laski, Lau­rel, Mc­Creary, Whit­ley, Knox, Bell, Har­lan, and Letcher coun­ties in Ken­tucky, and Scott, Camp­bell, and Clai­borne coun­ties in Ten­nessee (Na­ture­Serve, 2005) and have been re­cently dis­cov­ered in the upper Clinch River drainage in Lee County, Vir­ginia (Pin­der, M.J., per­sonal com­mu­ni­ca­tion). A sur­vey of 168 upper Cum­ber­land River streams, by Starnes and Starnes (1981) found the species to occur in 27 dif­fer­ent drainages. A sur­vey by O’Bara (1985) found black­side dace in 30 of 193 upper Cum­ber­land River drainages. ("Na­ture­Serve", 2005; O'Bara, 1985; Starnes and Starnes, 1981)

Habi­tat

Black­side dace in­habit small to medium sized streams 2.1 to 4.6 me­ters in width, with mod­er­ate gra­di­ent, and rarely ex­ceed­ing 21 de­grees Cel­sius (70 de­grees Fahren­heit) (Big­gins, 1988). Ac­cord­ing to O’Bara (1985), black­side dace occur in only mod­er­ate gra­di­ent streams that have a 60:40 rif­fle-pool ratio. Sub­strate in these streams con­sists of cob­ble-gravel in rif­fles and bedrock-boul­der-silt in pools (O’Bara, 1985). Starnes and Starnes (1981) note that these fish are gen­er­ally as­so­ci­ated with un­der­cut stream banks and large rocks, and they are usu­ally found in drainages with well-veg­e­tated wa­ter­sheds and ri­par­ian zones. The ri­par­ian veg­e­ta­tion gen­er­ally as­so­ci­ated with black­side dace habi­tat in­cludes woody species such as east­ern hem­lock (Tsuga canaden­sis), giant rhodo­den­dron (Rhodo­den­dron max­i­mum), iron­wood (Carpi­nus car­olini­ana), river birch (Be­tula nigra), and Amer­i­can sycamore (Pla­tanus oc­ci­den­talis) (O’Bara, 1985). Canopy cover at stream sec­tions that sup­port black­side dace is usu­ally over 70 per­cent (O’Bara, 1985). (Big­gins, 1988; O'Bara, 1985; Starnes and Starnes, 1981)

  • Aquatic Biomes
  • benthic
  • rivers and streams

Phys­i­cal De­scrip­tion

Black­side dace have an in­com­plete lat­eral line with 66 to 81 lat­eral line scales (Et­nier and Starnes, 1993). Anal fin ray count is 8 to 9 and pec­toral fin rays range from 14 to 16 (Et­nier and Starnes, 1993). Adults range from 50 to 65 mm dur­ing the end of the sec­ond and third sum­mers and can reach a max­i­mum length of 76 mm (Et­nier and Starnes, 1993). Adults have a sin­gle black lat­eral stripe or two stripes con­verg­ing on the cau­dal pe­dun­cle, a green/gold dor­sum with black speck­ling and a pale to bril­liant scar­let belly (Big­gins, 1988; Et­nier and Starnes, 1993). The fins are often bright yel­low with metal­lic sil­ver sur­round­ing the base of the pelvic and pec­toral fins (Big­gins, 1988). The yel­low­ish fins seem to be as­so­ci­ated with the breed­ing sea­son (Et­nier and Starnes, 1993). The male is more col­or­ful and can be dis­tuingished from the fe­male by hav­ing a golden dor­sum and well de­vel­oped tu­ber­cles on the pec­toral fins dur­ing the breed­ing sea­son (Et­nier and Starnes, 1993).

A sim­i­lar species that can be found in the same wa­ter­shed as black­side dace is south­ern red­belly dace (Chro­so­mus ery­thro­gaster). Black­side dace are dif­fer­en­ti­ated from south­ern red­belly dace by a sin­gle black lat­eral stripe or two stripes that con­verge on the cau­dal pe­dun­cle, where south­ern red­belly dace have two par­al­lel lat­eral stripes (Et­nier and Starnes, 1993).

Ju­ve­nile black­side dace can be con­fused with ju­ve­nile creek chub (Se­motilus atro­mac­u­la­tus) and ju­ve­nile blac­knose dace (Rhinichthys atrat­u­lus) (Et­nier and Starnes, 1993). Creek chub are more ro­bust and have only 51 to 54 lat­eral line scales, and blac­knose dace are dif­fer­en­ti­ated by hav­ing a frenum (Et­nier and Starnes, 1993). (Big­gins, 1988; Et­nier and Starnes, 1993)

  • Sexual Dimorphism
  • sexes colored or patterned differently
  • male more colorful
  • Range length
    76 (high) mm
    2.99 (high) in

De­vel­op­ment

Lit­tle is known about the early de­vel­op­ment of black­side dace. A life span of three years is typ­i­cal, with fry grow­ing to about 30 mm by the first fall of life and reach­ing sex­ual ma­tu­rity by their first spring (Et­nier and Starnes 1993). Dur­ing the sec­ond and third year, total lengths av­er­age 50 to 60 mm, with a max­i­mum total length of 76 mm (Et­nier and Starnes, 1993). Size ranges are bro­ken into three age classes, which in­clude the fol­low­ing: Age 0: 30 to 39 mm, Age I: 40 to 59 mm, and Age II: 60 to 79 mm (O’Bara, 1985). Bi­ol­o­gists use the age classes to de­ter­mine if black­side dace pop­u­la­tions are re­pro­duc­ing and vi­able. (Et­nier and Starnes, 1993; O'Bara, 1985)

Re­pro­duc­tion

Lit­tle is known about the mat­ing sys­tems of black­side dace. Spawn­ing oc­curs dur­ing the spring, from April to June. Males gather in small groups dur­ing spawn­ing and sev­eral males fer­til­ize the eggs of each fe­male as she de­posits them (USFWS, 1991). ("Species ac­count for black­side dace (Chro­so­mus cum­ber­lan­den­sis)", 1991)

Black­side dace spawn from April through June, but the ma­jor­ity of spawn­ing oc­curs dur­ing May (Starnes and Starnes, 1981). Dur­ing spawn­ing, males de­velop tu­ber­cles and both males and fe­males de­velop bril­liant col­ors (Et­nier and Starnes, 1993). Spawn­ing typ­i­cally oc­curs over silt-free gravel in the nests of other cyprinid fish, but pre­sum­ably rif­fle areas are used when these nests are not pre­sent (Et­nier and Starnes, 1993). Fe­males de­posit an av­er­age of 1,540 ova dur­ing spawn­ing (O’Bara, 1985). (Et­nier and Starnes, 1993; O'Bara, 1985; Starnes and Starnes, 1981)

  • Breeding interval
    Blackside dace spawn once a year.
  • Breeding season
    Blackside dace spawn each April through June.
  • Average number of offspring
    1540
  • Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (female)
    1 years
  • Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (male)
    1 years

Lit­tle is known about parental in­vest­ment in black­side dace. Once the eggs are fer­til­ized and de­posited, there is no fur­ther parental in­volve­ment.

  • Parental Investment
  • no parental involvement
  • pre-fertilization
    • provisioning
    • protecting
      • female

Lifes­pan/Longevity

The lifes­pan of black­side dace is ap­prox­i­mately 3 years (Et­nier and Starnes, 1993).

  • Average lifespan
    Status: captivity
    4 years
    AnAge

Be­hav­ior

Lit­tle is known about the be­hav­ior of black­side dace.

Home Range

Black­side dace are pre­sumed to have a small home range. Ac­cord­ing to Detar, Jones, and Mat­tingly (2003), most of the 864 dace tagged with an elas­tomer in­jec­tion stayed within the orig­i­nal site of cap­ture with the ex­cep­tion of a few in­di­vid­u­als mi­grat­ing 600 to 1800 me­ters from the cap­ture site and one in­di­vid­ual with in­ter­tribu­tary move­ment. (Detar, et al., 2003)

Com­mu­ni­ca­tion and Per­cep­tion

Black­side dace use vi­sion, hear­ing and chemore­cep­tion. In ad­di­tion, they use their lat­eral line sys­tem to de­tect vi­bra­tions in the water, which may help them avoid preda­tors (Helf­man et al., 1997).

Lit­tle is known about in­traspe­cific com­mu­ni­ca­tion in black­side dace. (Helf­man, et al., 1997)

Food Habits

Black­side dace feed on algae at­tached on the stream sub­strate and po­ten­tially be­neath banks of the stream (Et­nier and Starnes, 1993). Ac­cord­ing to Et­nier and Starnes (1993) black­side dace feed on in­sect lar­vae dur­ing the win­ter when algae is less abun­dant. (Et­nier and Starnes, 1993)

  • Animal Foods
  • insects
  • Plant Foods
  • algae

Pre­da­tion

Jones and Mat­tingly (2003) have noted a neg­a­tive cor­re­la­tion be­tween black­side dace and both red­breast sun­fish and large­mouth bass abun­dance that may be due to a preda­tor-prey in­ter­ac­tion. (Jones and Mat­tingly, 2003)

Ecosys­tem Roles

Black­side dace are pri­mary con­sumers, feed­ing mainly on algae. They serve as a food source for car­ni­vores, par­tic­u­larly larger fishes, and may oc­ca­sion­ally them­selves be preda­tors on aquatic in­sect lar­vae (USFWS, 1991). ("Species ac­count for black­side dace (Chro­so­mus cum­ber­lan­den­sis)", 1991)

Eco­nomic Im­por­tance for Hu­mans: Pos­i­tive

Black­side dace have no eco­nomic value to hu­mans.

Eco­nomic Im­por­tance for Hu­mans: Neg­a­tive

Min­eral ex­trac­tion is neg­a­tively im­pacted eco­nom­i­cally be­cause min­ing com­pa­nies can­not dis­turb streams con­tain­ing black­side dace, which are then des­ig­nated as Out­stand­ing Re­source Wa­ters. ("Na­ture­Serve", 2005)

Con­ser­va­tion Sta­tus

Black­side dace are listed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Ser­vices as Threat­ened, and are pro­tected under the En­dan­gered Species Act.

Habi­tat degra­da­tion caused by strip min­ing and log­ging prac­tices seem to be the lead­ing cause of the de­cline in num­bers of black­side dace. Black­side dace occur in the coal­fields of south­east­ern Ken­tucky and in­habit head­wa­ter streams where these ac­tiv­i­ties have the most im­pact.

Through the pre-mine per­mit­ting process, state and fed­eral agen­cies re­strict or highly reg­u­late min­ing ac­tiv­i­ties that are to occur in wa­ter­sheds con­tain­ing black­side dace.

Con­trib­u­tors

Mary Hejna (ed­i­tor), Uni­ver­sity of Michi­gan-Ann Arbor.

Chris Isaac (au­thor), East­ern Ken­tucky Uni­ver­sity, Sherry Har­rel (ed­i­tor, in­struc­tor), East­ern Ken­tucky Uni­ver­sity.

Glossary

Nearctic

living in the Nearctic biogeographic province, the northern part of the New World. This includes Greenland, the Canadian Arctic islands, and all of the North American as far south as the highlands of central Mexico.

World Map

benthic

Referring to an animal that lives on or near the bottom of a body of water. Also an aquatic biome consisting of the ocean bottom below the pelagic and coastal zones. Bottom habitats in the very deepest oceans (below 9000 m) are sometimes referred to as the abyssal zone. see also oceanic vent.

bilateral symmetry

having body symmetry such that the animal can be divided in one plane into two mirror-image halves. Animals with bilateral symmetry have dorsal and ventral sides, as well as anterior and posterior ends. Synapomorphy of the Bilateria.

chemical

uses smells or other chemicals to communicate

ectothermic

animals which must use heat acquired from the environment and behavioral adaptations to regulate body temperature

external fertilization

fertilization takes place outside the female's body

fertilization

union of egg and spermatozoan

forest

forest biomes are dominated by trees, otherwise forest biomes can vary widely in amount of precipitation and seasonality.

freshwater

mainly lives in water that is not salty.

herbivore

An animal that eats mainly plants or parts of plants.

heterothermic

having a body temperature that fluctuates with that of the immediate environment; having no mechanism or a poorly developed mechanism for regulating internal body temperature.

iteroparous

offspring are produced in more than one group (litters, clutches, etc.) and across multiple seasons (or other periods hospitable to reproduction). Iteroparous animals must, by definition, survive over multiple seasons (or periodic condition changes).

motile

having the capacity to move from one place to another.

natatorial

specialized for swimming

native range

the area in which the animal is naturally found, the region in which it is endemic.

oviparous

reproduction in which eggs are released by the female; development of offspring occurs outside the mother's body.

polygynandrous

the kind of polygamy in which a female pairs with several males, each of which also pairs with several different females.

seasonal breeding

breeding is confined to a particular season

sedentary

remains in the same area

sexual

reproduction that includes combining the genetic contribution of two individuals, a male and a female

social

associates with others of its species; forms social groups.

tactile

uses touch to communicate

temperate

that region of the Earth between 23.5 degrees North and 60 degrees North (between the Tropic of Cancer and the Arctic Circle) and between 23.5 degrees South and 60 degrees South (between the Tropic of Capricorn and the Antarctic Circle).

threatened

The term is used in the 1994 IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals to refer collectively to species categorized as Endangered (E), Vulnerable (V), Rare (R), Indeterminate (I), or Insufficiently Known (K) and in the 1996 IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals to refer collectively to species categorized as Critically Endangered (CR), Endangered (EN), or Vulnerable (VU).

vibrations

movements of a hard surface that are produced by animals as signals to others

visual

uses sight to communicate

Ref­er­ences

2005. "Na­ture­Serve" (On-line). Na­ture­Serve Ex­plorer: An on­line en­cy­clo­pe­dia of life. Ac­cessed Au­gust 30, 2005 at http://​www.​natureserve.​org/​explorer/​servlet/​NatureServe?​searchName=Phoxinus+cumberlandensis.

U. S. Fish and Wildlife Ser­vice. 1991. "Species ac­count for black­side dace (Chro­so­mus cum­ber­lan­den­sis)" (On-line). En­dan­gered and Threat­ened Species of the South­east­ern United States (The Red Book) FWS Re­gion 4. Ac­cessed Sep­tem­ber 06, 2006 at http://​www.​fws.​gov/​endangered/​i/​e/​sae2g.​html.

Big­gins, R. 1988. Black­side Dace Re­cov­ery Plan. At­lanta, GA: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Ser­vice.

Detar, J., B. Jones, H. Mat­tingly. 2003. Fac­tors af­fect­ing the dis­tri­b­u­tion and re­cov­ery of the threat­ened black­side dace in Ken­tucky and Ten­nessee. Cookeville, TN: Ten­nessee Tech­no­log­i­cal Uni­ver­sity.

Et­nier, D., W. Starnes. 1993. The Fishes of Ten­nessee. Knoxville, TN: Uni­ver­sity of Ten­nessee Press.

Helf­man, G., B. Col­lette, D. Facey. 1997. The Di­ver­sity of Fishes. Malden, MA: Black­well Sci­ence, Inc..

Jones, B., H. Mat­tingly. 2003. "Build­ing a pre­dic­tive habi­tat model for the black­side dace, Phox­i­nus cum­ber­lan­den­sis" (On-line). Ac­cessed No­vem­ber 01, 2005 at http://​www.​forestry.​caf.​wvu.​edu/​wvuafs/​Colloquium/​Post-web/​abstracts.​htm.

O'Bara, C. 1985. Sta­tus sur­vey of the black­side dace Chro­so­mus cum­ber­lan­den­sis . Asheville, NC: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Ser­vice.

Starnes, W., L. Starnes. 1981. Bi­ol­ogy of the black­side dace Chro­so­mus cum­ber­lan­den­sis . Amer­i­can Mid­land Nat­u­ral­ist, 106: 360-370.