Etowah Darter Fish
by Bela
PROLOGUE
Slippery, scaly. What in the world is an Etowah Darter? It’s an endangered fish. It eats aquatic invertebrates. All my classmates ask, ‘What's an Etowah Darter?”’ A fish with many threats, so let’s say you're a Etowah darter fish and your threats are particles, feces and so on. These fish are vulnerable which means they’re badly threatened. They have a scientific name Etheostoma etowahae. Scientific names are for classification by scientists. They live in the amazing Etowah River in Georgia. The number of etowah darters is going down.
HABITAT
Rocks, cobble and gravel all you ever dreamed of. Clear swift ripples and little silt, and then destroyed by feces. Sewers flood and farm animals poop, and then the rain washes it into its home the 146 mile Etowah River. The Etowah darter enjoys its home, it doesn't want an infected home. Think would you want a rotten home I’m guessing probably not. No other river in Georgia has the attributes of the Etowah River. It's specific to the darter.
LOOKS
Swish. A browny grayish fish swoops past you. Its slimy scales slip on your finger. It’s a small fish an Etowah darter fish. Male Etowah darters develop a green color during breeding season. It has black beady eyes and lovely splotches. And that’s what an Etowah darter looks like.
THREATS
Think for a moment you're a small fish living happily with cobbles, gravel and a swift ripple and then vvvmmmrrrooommmm, a tree gets cut down. Roots hold the soil in place but now there's no more roots. Soil gets in the water and messes with your perfect temperature and swift ripples. This could kill you and that is a threat to the Etowah darter. It needs no particles and it needs swift ripples. Soil gets loose because trees being cut down. Soil falls in the water and messes with its perfect temperature. Habitat loss is happening because Atlanta is expanding. More people are moving to Atlanta and they are making new homes for new people. They are cutting down trees and that isn’t good for the Etowah darter because the trees hold the soil. When there are no tree roots there is soil coming in the water. And people ask, can the Etowah darter move to a cleaner river? But it can’t move because it can only live in the Etowah River.
So now you know how such a little fish could be so endangered. So now you know where it lives and what it eats. I hope you do because humans are the cause of the vulnerable fish. But change your path and the darter may come back from its worries. Come back from endangerment! Come back from being scared and vulnerable. There's a small possibility so try. Try so hard that if it comes back from its vulnerable zone you would feel like you did it. So share the news and everything you know about this fish and maybe it will come back because you did not litter. You did not pull roots from the ground. Or whack trees. You were the best you you could be. It might come back. And you would shout I did it and it came back!
by Bela
PROLOGUE
Slippery, scaly. What in the world is an Etowah Darter? It’s an endangered fish. It eats aquatic invertebrates. All my classmates ask, ‘What's an Etowah Darter?”’ A fish with many threats, so let’s say you're a Etowah darter fish and your threats are particles, feces and so on. These fish are vulnerable which means they’re badly threatened. They have a scientific name Etheostoma etowahae. Scientific names are for classification by scientists. They live in the amazing Etowah River in Georgia. The number of etowah darters is going down.
HABITAT
Rocks, cobble and gravel all you ever dreamed of. Clear swift ripples and little silt, and then destroyed by feces. Sewers flood and farm animals poop, and then the rain washes it into its home the 146 mile Etowah River. The Etowah darter enjoys its home, it doesn't want an infected home. Think would you want a rotten home I’m guessing probably not. No other river in Georgia has the attributes of the Etowah River. It's specific to the darter.
LOOKS
Swish. A browny grayish fish swoops past you. Its slimy scales slip on your finger. It’s a small fish an Etowah darter fish. Male Etowah darters develop a green color during breeding season. It has black beady eyes and lovely splotches. And that’s what an Etowah darter looks like.
THREATS
Think for a moment you're a small fish living happily with cobbles, gravel and a swift ripple and then vvvmmmrrrooommmm, a tree gets cut down. Roots hold the soil in place but now there's no more roots. Soil gets in the water and messes with your perfect temperature and swift ripples. This could kill you and that is a threat to the Etowah darter. It needs no particles and it needs swift ripples. Soil gets loose because trees being cut down. Soil falls in the water and messes with its perfect temperature. Habitat loss is happening because Atlanta is expanding. More people are moving to Atlanta and they are making new homes for new people. They are cutting down trees and that isn’t good for the Etowah darter because the trees hold the soil. When there are no tree roots there is soil coming in the water. And people ask, can the Etowah darter move to a cleaner river? But it can’t move because it can only live in the Etowah River.
So now you know how such a little fish could be so endangered. So now you know where it lives and what it eats. I hope you do because humans are the cause of the vulnerable fish. But change your path and the darter may come back from its worries. Come back from endangerment! Come back from being scared and vulnerable. There's a small possibility so try. Try so hard that if it comes back from its vulnerable zone you would feel like you did it. So share the news and everything you know about this fish and maybe it will come back because you did not litter. You did not pull roots from the ground. Or whack trees. You were the best you you could be. It might come back. And you would shout I did it and it came back!