Blotchside Logperch

Scientific name: Percina burtoni

 

Size: To 6 in.

 

Range: Alabama, North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia in the Tennessee river system. Formerly found in Kentucky and Tennessee in the Cumberland river system.

 

Habitat: Moderate current in cool, clear streams and rivers with rocky bottoms

 

Diet: Aquatic invertebrates

 

Conservation status: Special Concern

 

Logperch are a fun species to observe in streams because they feed by flipping rocks and eating the invertebrates they find underneath. Our study of the Blotchside Logperch, a rare darter from the Tennessee River drainage, showed that genetic variation in this species is closely correlated with geography. Studies such as these help us understand how best to minimize anthropogenic impacts, such as fragmentation of populations due to damming and impoundments.

 

Scientific publications:

George, A. L., D. A. Neely, and R. L. Mayden. 2006. Conservation genetics of an imperiled fish from eastern North America, the Blotchside Logperch, Percina burtoni (Teleostei: Percidae). Copeia 2006: 585-594.