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A Virtual Museum on the State's Fish Biodiversity

Etheostoma squamiceps

Spottail Darter
NS G4
Collection Details

Specimens

Photos

There are no photos available for this taxon yet.

Records

Taxonomic Hierarchy

Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes) Perciformes (Perciformes, Also Called the Acanthopteri) Percidae (Perches) Etheostoma Etheostoma squamiceps (Spottail Darter)

Description

This species account was compiled from FishBase (Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2025. FishBase. World Wide Web electronic publication. www.fishbase.org, version 04/2025.) and processed using AI-assisted text extraction. It may contain errors in spelling, punctuation, or formatting. When citing, please reference the original source rather than this page. Learn more about our species accounts.

Characters

Body shape: elongated.

Distribution

North America: in lower Ohio River basin (Green River drainage in Kentucky and Tennessee to Cache River system in Illinois), including extreme lower Wabash River drainage in Indiana and Illinois, and Red River system (Cumberland River drainage) in Kentucky and Tennessee, USA.

Habitat Associations

Freshwater. benthopelagic.

Biology

Inhabit rocky pools and adjacent riffles of headwaters, creeks and small rivers (Ref. 5723); also found in streams (Ref. 10294). Eggs are found clustered on underside of stone and guarded by males (Ref. 7043).
Max length: 8.8 cm TL; common length: 4.6 cm TL; max age: 3 years.
Reproductive mode: dioecism; fertilization: external; guarders (clutch tenders); parental care: paternal. Eggs are found clustered on underside of stone (Ref. 7043). Males guard the eggs (Ref. 7043).
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2012-01-23. Resilience: High (tmax=3; Fec=78-357).

References

Page, L.M. and B.M. Burr (1991) A field guide to freshwater fishes of North America north of Mexico. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston. 432 p.
Page, L. (1983) Handbook of darters. T.F.H. Publications, Inc. USA. 271 p.

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