The southeastern United States harbors one of the most diverse temperate freshwater fish faunas of the world. Unfortunately, due to improper land use practices and habitat degradation, many of the species in this region are imperiled and may become extinct without appropriate conservation efforts. This study examined the population dynamics of an endangered endemic darter of southwest Kentucky, the Relict Darter (Etheostoma chienense) and its sister taxon, the undescribed Clarks Darter (Etheostoma cf. oophylax). Mitochondrial sequence data coupled with SNP data were used to infer population structure, gene flow, genetic variation, and effective population sizes of both species. The results from this study, based on 160 individuals from nine localities, indicate that the endangered Relict Darter possesses limited genetic variation based on mitochondrial DNA haplotypes (N = 4). In addition, SNP data (6.8 k markers) further indicates limited genetic structure (K = 1), as well as a low effective population size (143–918), suggesting that the Relict Darter can be managed as a single, panmictic conservation unit. It is suggested that conservation efforts be taken to protect remaining habitats, augment the system with artificial spawning substrates, and, as a last resort (if needed), supplement the natural population with captive reared individuals. Ethesotoma cf. oophylax showed some genetic variation among distant sites, but more samples are needed throughout the range in order to fully understand the population dynamics of this species.

美国东南部拥有世界上最多样化的温带淡水鱼类动物区系之一。不幸的是，由于土地使用方式不当和栖息地退化，该地区许多物种受到了威胁，如果没有适当的保护就可能灭绝。这项研究调查了西南肯塔基州一种濒临灭绝的地方性飞镖，Relict Darter（Etheostoma chienense）及其姐妹类群，未描述的Clarks Darter（Etheostoma cf. oophylax）的种群动态。）。线粒体序列数据与SNP数据一起用于推断两个物种的种群结构，基因流，遗传变异和有效种群大小。这项研究的结果来自9个地区的160个人，表明濒临灭绝的Relict Darter基于线粒体DNA单倍型（N = 4）具有有限的遗传变异。此外，SNP数据（6.8 k个标记）进一步表明遗传结构有限（K = 1），并且有效种群数量较低（143-918），这表明可以将遗物飞镖作为一个单一的恐慌性保护单位来管理。 。建议采取保护措施来保护剩余的栖息地，用人工产卵基质增强系统，并在万不得已时（如果需要）用圈养的个体补充自然种群。Ethesotoma比照 卵菌在远处显示出一些遗传变异，但是在整个范围内需要更多的样本才能充分了解该物种的种群动态。