OCCASIONAL PAPERS of the MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY The University of Kansas Lawrence, Kansas NUMBER 119, PAGES 1-83 NOVEMBER 13, 1985 REVIEW OF THE SUBGENUS CATONOTUS (PERCIDAE) WITH DESCRIPTIONS OF TWO NEW DARTERS OF THE ETHEOSTOMA SQUAMICEPS SPECIES GROUP By Marvin E. Braasch 1 and Richard L. Mayden 2 INTRODUCTION The Cumberland and Tennessee drainages together with tributaries of the lower Ohio River possess one of the most diverse fish faunas in North America. Many species native to these drainages are endemic. The subgenus Catonotus is no exception to the pattern of diversity in this region. With the exception of Etheostoma flabellare all of its members are restricted to the Cumberland, Tennessee, and lower Ohio river drainages. Prior to 1978, accounts of the spottail darter, Etheostoma squamiceps, considered it to be a single variable species. Howell and Dingerkus (1978) recognized the diversity in E. squamiceps when they described a highly distinctive species, E. neopterum. Although their study was not inclusive of the total range of E. squamiceps, they considered the possibility of additional undescribed forms masquerading under the now more re-strictive taxon, E. squamiceps. Braasch and Page (1979) additionally recognized diversity in the spottail darter and described E. olivaceum, a distinctive species known from the Caney Fork system since the 1960's. Further, these authors had independently reached the same conclusion as Howell and Dingerkus (1978), that the spottail darter represents a polytypic taxon. It is the purpose of this paper to examine morphological variation of E. squamiceps and its relatives. Two new species of this group are described herein. A brief review of other Catonotus is presented as well as hypotheses of phylogenetic relationships and biogeography. 1 Belleville Area College, Belleville. Illinois 62221 USA 2 Museum of Natural History and Department of Systematics and Ecology. The University of Kansas. Lawrence, Kansas 66045 USA, Present address: Department of Biology. University of California, Los Angeles, California 90024
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