Percina tanasi Etnier, 1976
Snail darter
Taxonomy & Nomenclature
Conservation Status
Erroneously listed as Extinct by (Robins et al., 1980 fide Miller et al., 1989:37)
IUCN RedList status: Vulnerable
Distribution & Habitat
Alabama, Georgia & Tennessee, USA
Anatomy & Morphology
Biology & Ecology
Hypodigm
Media
References
Original scientific description:
Etnier, D. A. (1976). Percina (Imostoma) tanasi, a new percid fish from the Little Tennesse River, Tennessee. Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 88(44): 469-488.
Other references:
Ashton, M.J. and Layzer, J.B. 2008. Distribution of the threatened snail darter (Percina tanasi) in the upper Tennessee River drainage. Journal of the Tennessee Academy of Science 83: 52-56.
Bart, H.L., Jr. and Page, L.M. 1992. The influence of size and phylogeny on life history variation in North American percids. In: R.L. Mayden (ed.), Systematics, historical ecology, and North American freshwater fishes, pp. 553-572. Stanford University Press, Stanford, California.
Boschung, H.T. and Mayden, R.L. 2004. Fishes of Alabama. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D.C.
Etnier, D.A. and Starnes, W.C. 1993. The fishes of Tennessee. University of Tennessee Press, Knoxville, Tennessee.
Kuehne, R.A. and Barbour, R.W. 1983. The American Darters. University Press of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky.
Lee, D.S., Gilbert, C.R., Hocutt, C.H., Jenkins, R.E., McAllister, D.E. and Stauffer, J.R., Jr. 1980. Atlas of North American freshwater fishes. North Carolina State Museum of Natural History, Raleigh, North Carolina.
Matthews, J.R. and Moseley, C.J. (eds). 1990. The Official World Wildlife Fund Guide to Endangered Species of North America. Volume 1. Plants, Mammals. xxiii + pp 1-560 + 33 pp. appendix + 6 pp. glossary + 16 pp. index, pp. 1180. Beacham Publications, Inc., Washington, D.C.
Miller, Robert Rush, Williams, James D. and Williams, Jack E. (1989). Extinctions of North American fishes during the past century. Fisheries 14(6): 22-38.
Mirarchi, R.E., Garner, J.T., Mettee, M.F. and O'Neil, P.E. 2004. Alabama wildlife. University of Alabama Press, Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
NatureServe. (2013). Percina tanasi. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2013: e.T16595A19033649. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2013-1.RLTS.T16595A19033649.en. Accessed on 14 September 2025.
Nelson, J.S., Crossman, E.J., Espinosa-Perez, H., Findley, L.T., Gilbert, C.R., Lea, R.N. and Williams, J.D. 2004. Common and scientific names of fishes from the United States, Canada, and Mexico. American Fisheries Society, Bethesda, Maryland.
Ono, R.D., Williams, J.D. and Wagner, A. 1983. Vanishing Fishes of North America. Stone Wall Press, Washington, DC.
Page, L.M. 1983. Handbook of Darters. T. F. H. Publications, Inc., Neptune City, New Jersey.
Page, L.M. and Burr, B.M. 1991. A field guide to freshwater fishes: North America north of Mexico. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, Massachusetts.
Page, L.M. and Burr, B.M. 2011. Peterson field guide to freshwater fishes of North America north of Mexico. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Boston, Massachusetts.
Robins, C. R., Bailey, R. M., Bond, C. E., Brooker, J. R., Lachner, E. A., Lea, R. N. and Scott, W. B. (1980). A list of common and scientific names of fishes from the United States and Canada, 4th ed. Am. Fish. Soc. Spec. Publ. No. 12. 174 pp.
Robins, C.R., Bailey, R.M., Bond, C.E., Brooker, J.R., Lachner, E.A., Lea, R.N. and Scott, W.B. 1991. Common and scientific names of fishes from the United States and Canada. American Fisheries Society.
Scott, E.M., Jr. 2000. Status of snail darters (Percina tanasi) in the lower French Broad River, Tennessee.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). 1983. Snail darter recovery plan. USFWS, Asheville, North Carolina.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). 1990. Endangered and threatened species recovery program: report to Congress.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). 2004. Bioloigcal opinion on the Reservoir Operations Study (ROS) located in the Tennessee River Valley in Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Williams, J.E, Johnson, J.E., Hendrickson, D.A., Contreras-Balderas, S., Williams, J.D., Navarro-Mendoza, M., McAllister, D.E. and Deacon, J.E. 1989. Fishes of North America endangered, threatened or of special concern: 1989. Fisheries 14(6): 2-20.