Classification

Scientific name: (Percina Phoxocephala)
Common name: Slenderhead Darter 
     The Slenderhead Darter (Percina phoxocephala) classification- The common name derives from the taxa of fish that the species encompasses. This origin of this species common name is fairly obvious when comparing the name to the structure of the fish itself. It is easily distinguished from other species within the Darter genus by it’s narrow, descending head or ‘slenderhead’ for a lack of a better description. The species name means: Percina- Latin, diminutive of perch and phoxocepala- tapering head (phoxo, meaning tapering, and cephala, referring to head), in English. Other common names that this fish is referred to is: sharp-nosed darter and the long-headed darter.(Becker, 1983)   

Classification:

Domain: Eukarya

Kingdom: Metazoa

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Actinopterygii

Order:Perciformes

Family: Percidae

Genus: Percina

Species: Percina phoxocephala

 

Domain: Eukarya- One of the three main branches in the Phylogeny of life. Characteristics differentiating Eukarya is most importantly the presence of a nucleus. These larger membrane-bound organisms also contain other organelles that make them far more complex than those of the other domains and allows for the development of larger body sizes (such as fish).(EOL, 2013)

Kingdom: Metazoa- Is one extremely diverse Kingdom found in the Domain Eukarya. Metazoans are a major taxa of multicellular, eukaryotic organisms. Over 1.5 million species have already been identified and it is believed to contain possibly up to 10 million species.(EOL, 2013)

Phylum: Chordata- The phylum of the vertebrates that are distinguished by the presence of a backbone or spinal column. There are around 32,000 species of fish alone identified in this phylum with the Darters accounting for a very small portion of these.(EOL, 2013)  

Class: Actinopterygii- This class accounts for approximately half of all living vertebrates. It is better known as the ‘ray-finned fishes’ taxon of fishes.(EOL, 2013)(ODNR, 2013) 

Order: Perciformes- Largest order of vertebrates, still a very extremely diverse group with over 10,000 species. The name Perciformes means ‘perch-like fish’. They live in every habitat that fish encompass globally.(EOL, 2013)  

Family: Percidae- The Perch Family. Found in the Northern hemisphere and typically have soft rays and stiff spines. Segmented dorsal fins in middle of the back where the front dorsal fin is spiny and the rear dorsal fin is soft is unique to this family.(EOL, 2013)  

Genus: Percina- Group of small fish with previous characteristics known as the Darters.(EOL, 2013)  

Species: Percina phoxocephala

 

For information on other organisms like the Slenderhead Darter visit www.multipleorganisms.net

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