Black Darter Abstract

I felt the motivation this afternoon to look at the black darter reproduction manuscript, which I haven't fooled with since Jan. 4. I made some minor edits, but it looked better than I feared it might. So, now I feel compelled to submit it to a journal for publication. The J. of Fish Biology seems to be a good candidate, so now I'll format the article for them. One of the odd things about science publishing is that every journal has its own very picayune style requirements, and editors can get very pissy if you overlook one of their stylistic requirements. They have a very explicit, detailed style sheet on-line so I'll slog through that. Following is the Abstract for the submission, titled "Reproductive Development in the Blacksided Snubnose Darter, Etheostoma duryi," by B. Stallsmith & R. Beddingfield. (I don't think I've published this before here...)

Reproductive development in the darter fish Etheostoma duryi (subfamily Etheostomatinae) was studied in two north Alabama populations. Sites chosen for comparison were urban Town Creek in Limestone County, and rural Limestone Creek in Madison County. Because of the small body size of this species the study uses a histological approach never before used in population studies of the Etheostomatinae. Microscopic and macroscopic methods were utilized to study gonadal development and investment. Reproductive investment, as measured by gonadosomatic index, relative gonad mass and the proportionality coefficient, increased in both sites (and for both sexes) toward the time of peak spawning. Total number of oocytes differed significantly between populations, possibly attributable to differing body sizes. Clutch size and mass were not significantly different between sites. Reproductive maturation occurs from January until the peak in late March and April at both sites.