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Date of Award

4-22-1988

Document Type

Restricted Thesis: Campus only access

Degree Name

Bachelor of Science

Department

Biology

First Advisor

Dr. William S. Woolcott

Abstract

The shield darter, Percina peltata, occurs in the drainages of seven Atlantic Coast states from New York to North Carolina. Although regional differentiation has been observed in the species, there has not been a thorough quantitative study to determine the extent of this variation. I have analyzed 17 characters on 310 P. peltata specimens from throughout its range. Three discernable populations have emerged which can be separated on at least the subspecific level: one ranging from the James River drainage northward to the Susquehanna River drainage, one from the Piedmont and Coastal Plain Roanoke River drainage southward to the Neuse drainage, and one in the Montane Roanoke River drainage. The populations showed significant (alpha= 0.05) differences in 12 characters, using Duncan's multiple range test. Three of the characters, number of lateral line scales, cheek scales, and scales around the caudal peduncle, were unique to each population.

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