February 24, 2004

New Fish Species Discovered in Midwestern River by Saint Louis University Researcher

Mayden, along with his colleague and former doctoral student Steven Powers, Ph.D., of Reinhardt College in Georgia, recently discovered the Chickasaw darter, Etheostoma cervus, in the Forked Deer River, which is about an hour and a half northeast of Memphis.

"Most people think that basically everything is known about the biodiversity of the United States," Mayden said. "I beg to differ." Having already discovered and described 10 previously unknown species from rivers in North America and working on another 30 descriptions of new species, Mayden said current predictions of biodiversity are underestimated.

Some people might assume that this new fish must be cryptically colored or not too flashy, helping it escape the notice of naturalists. That's hardly the case, Mayden said.

"This species is spectacularly colorful, especially the males during their breeding season," he said.

But how did this striking fish remain undiscovered? Mayden said one of the main reasons is that researchers mostly are looking elsewhere. That's where the funding is too, with most agencies supporting efforts to inventory tropical regions or areas under high risk of being lost.

"The reality is that there is a heck of a lot of biodiversity that has yet to be discovered in this country," Mayden said. "Even people in inner cities are living among fish species that haven't been described or discovered by scientists."

Mayden added that the newly discovered Chickasaw darter, like many other small stream fish, is endangered in its native habitat and should be considered for state and federal protection. The new species was described in the last edition of the peer-reviewed journal "Copeia."

The cover of Mayden's upcoming new book.

World-renowned artist Joseph R. Tomelleri illustrated the new fish for Mayden using specialized techniques with color pencil. Tomelleri has illustrated 700 color images of freshwater fish in Mayden's upcoming book "Fishes of Alabama" by Smithsonian Institution Press.

Related Links:

• See more of Tomelleri's illustrations.
• Visit the biology department's website.