CLUTCH AND EGG SIZE VARIATION IN THE BANDED DARTER, ETHEOSTOMA-ZONALE, FROM 3 SITES IN ARKANSAS

We studied variation in clutch and egg size of the banded darter, Ethe ostoma zonale, using museum specimens representing three geographicall y separated populations from central and northern Arkansas. We found s ignificant differences in standard length-adjusted mean clutch size an d mean ovum mass. Clutch size varied by more than three hundred percen t between sites, and egg mass by approximately twenty percent, demonst rating that comparative studies of interspecific variation in life his tory based upon a single population for each species may be misleading .