Endangered Florida Fish

An Okaloosa Darter
Photograph kindly permitted by Noel Burkhead

Okaloosa Darter 
Etheostoma okaloosae

To begin: what is a Fish?

A fish is an aquatic vertebrate (has a backbone)

that is cold blooded, has fins, breathes through gills

and may be covered with scales.

The tiny Darter spends much of its life in the

small streams of the Florida Panhandle,

like Ten Mile Creek.

An Okaloosa Darter
Photo credit: Noel Burkhead

It prefers to hide or live along the edges of clear,

fast moving, sandy bottomed waters with abundant

shelter from the roots and plants in the water.

Ten Mile Creek, a Darter Geographic Range
Photo credit: Frank Jordan

The Okaloosa Darter has been listed since 1973

as Endangered, but has been recommended

to now be listed as Threatened, due to the

successful conservation efforts at Eglin Air Base.

* It is official, the Darter is now listed as a Threatened Species.*

An Okaloosa Darter
Photo credit: Noel Burkhead

An Okaloosa Darter
Photo credit: Frank Jordan

Places to learn more:

Florida Museum of Natural History

A Good Fish Story

Science Daily

Endangered Billfish

Scripps Institution of Oceanography

Decline in Florida's Reef Fish

Saint Pete Times

A Little Fish Catches Military's Eye

Walking with the Alligators