THE SWAMP DARTERS OF THE SUBGENUS HOLOLEPIS (PISCES, PERCIDAE) BRUCE B. COLLETTE, Ichthyologjcal Laboratory, Fish and Wildlife Service, U. S. National Museum, Washington 23, D. C, I. Introduction The object of this paper is to clarify the relationships within and among the darters of the subgenus Hololepis, genus Etheo-stofua. Hubbs and Cannon (1935) thoroughly reviewed the darters of the nominal genera Hololepis and Villora on the basis of the specimens then available. Extensive collect-ing in recent years has greatly increased available material and necessitates a modi-fication of some of their conclusions. Bailey (1951), in Bailey, Winn, and Smith, 1954; and in Bailey and Gosline, 1955 reduced the many nominal genera of darters to three. These are Percina, Ammo-crypta, and Etheostonia. He based this deci-sion on "evidence that the characters em-ployed to define and delimit the groups . . . are highly variable both intraspecifically and interspecifically, are subject to complete overlap from group to group, and are com-monly the product of convergent evolution" ( Bailey, Winn, and Smith, 1954, page 141 ) . Bailey utilized some of the former genera as subgenera (Bailey and Gosline, 1955: Fig. 1 ) . Although it would be better to have data published before nomenclatorial changes are made, I will follow his use of the name Hololepis as a subgenus of Etheostonia. However, I can not agree with his implica-tion that the subgenus Villora Hubbs and Cannon be made a synonym of Hololepis (See Collette and Yerger, 1962). Upon replacing Etheostoma edwini in the sub-genus Villora, the subgenus Hololepis con-stitutes a group of eight forms of small specialized swamp darters. Four of these forms are found in the swamps, lakes, and backwaters of the Coastal Plain, one in the lowlands of the Mississippi Basin, and the other three are limited to the backwaters of Piedmont streams along the Atlantic Coast. II. Acknowledgments This study was begun at the suggestion of Edward C. Raney and completed under his guidance in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at Cornell University. In addi-tion to his constant interest. Dr. Raney pro-vided support through National Science Foundation Grants 2893 and 9038. The section on pored lateral-line scales in Etheostoma fusiforme was submitted as a minor problem in limnology to Clifford O. Berg to whom I express my appreciation for his comments and interest. The New York State Museum and Science Service pro-vided support for field work on the Long Island populations of E. fusiforme through a Graduate Student Honorarium. This study could not have been satis-factorily completed without the use of speci-mens from a number of museums and uni-versities. Appreciation is expressed to the following persons and their institutions for having loaned specimens under their care and for making facilities at their institu-tions available: Joseph R. Bailey, Duke University (DU); Reeve M. Bailey, Uni-versity of Michigan Museum of Zoology (UMMZ); James E. Bohlke, Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia (ANSP); Frank B. Cross, Museum of Natural History, University of Kansas ( KU ) ; Harry W. Free-man, University of South Carolina (speci-mens transferred to Cornell University); Shelby D. Gerking, University of Indiana (UI); Robert H. Gibbs, Jr., Boston Uni-versity (BU); A. Frederick Hemphill, Spring Hill College, Alabama ( UAIC) ; Clark Hubbs, University of Texas (TNHC); Robert H. Kanazawa, Ernest A. Lachner, Leonard P. Schultz and W. Ralph Taylor, Fish Division, United States National Mu-seum (USNM); Y. J. McGaha, University of Mississippi (UM); Romeo Mansueti, Maryland Department of Research and Edu-cation (M); George A. Moore, Oklahoma State University (OAM); E. E. Prather, Alabama Polytechnic Institute (API); Ed-ward C. Raney, Cornell University (CU); C. Richard Robins, University of Miami Marine Laboratory (UMML); Donald C. Scott, University of Georgia (UG); Philip W. Smith, Illinois Natural History Survey
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