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Dryad

Data from: Four new species of darters related to Percina evides (Percidae: Etheostomatinae)

Wood, Julia1; Taylor, Adam1; Stokes, Maya2; Near, Thomas1

Published May 20, 2026 on Dryad. https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.8cz8w9h60

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Abstract

The Gilt Darter, Percina evides, has a widespread distribution in rivers and streams across the Central Highlands region of eastern North America. Phylogenomics and disparity of meristic traits led to the delimitation of five independently evolving lineages in the Percina evides species complex, which we formally describe here. We redescribe Percina evides sensu stricto as distributed in tributaries and the mainstem of the Ohio River upstream of the confluence with the Tennessee River. We describe four new species: Percina versicolor distributed in the upper Tennessee River system; Percina campestria distributed in tributaries of the lower Tennessee River in Alabama, Tennessee, and Mississippi and the Duck River system in Tennessee; Percina hespera distributed in the Missouri, Meramec, and upper Mississippi River watersheds in Missouri, Wisconsin, and Minnesota; and Percina obscura distributed in the White and St. Francis River systems in Arkansas and Missouri. Species of the Percina evides complex have suffered from habitat degradation, and populations of P. hespera in Iowa and Illinois, populations of P. evides in the upper White, Maumee, Cumberland, and Wabash Rivers, and populations of P. obscura in the upper White River of Arkansas are extirpated. Species in the Percina evides species complex are diagnosed through a combination of meristic traits and male nuptial coloration, and all five species are reciprocally monophyletic in phylogenomic analyses.