Two new species of Etheostoma from the Black Warrior River System (Mobile Basin) of Alabama (Teleostei: Percidae)

Etheostoma bellator Suttkus & Bailey, the Warrior Darter, is found in the Black Warrior River system of the eastern Tombigbee River drainage in Alabama. This species inhabits the headwaters of all three major forks of the Black Warrior River, including Sipsey, Mulberry, and Locust forks, as well as a direct tributary to the Black Warrior River (Valley Creek). Previous genetic investigations indicated that E. bellator populations from these three forks and Etheostoma chermocki were different evolutionary lineages.

In the description of E. bellator very few specimens were examined from the Sipsey or upper Locust forks of the Black Warrior River. Populations of E. bellator from these latter watersheds are morphologically and genetically distinct, diagnosable from other members of the group and are described herein as new species.