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A Virtual Museum on the State's Fish Biodiversity

Etheostoma zonale

Banded Darter
NS G5
Collection Details

Specimens

Photos

Records

Taxonomic Hierarchy

Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes) Perciformes (Perciformes, Also Called the Acanthopteri) Percidae (Perches) Etheostoma Etheostoma zonale (Banded 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 Lake Michigan and Mississippi River basins from southwestern New York to Minnesota and south to northern Georgia, northern Alabama and southern Arkansas; in Wabash River drainage of Ohio, Indiana and Illinois; and in streams of southern Illinois, southern Iowa and northern Missouri, USA.

Habitat Associations

Freshwater. benthopelagic.

Biology

Inhabit rocky riffles of creeks and small to medium rivers (Ref. 5723, 10294). Adults feed on midge larvae, mayfly nymphs, and blackfly larvae (Ref. 10294). Eggs are found attached to the substrate unguarded (Ref. 7043).
Max length: 7.8 cm TL; common length: 5.3 cm TL; max age: 4 years.
Reproductive mode: dioecism; fertilization: external; nonguarders (open water/substratum egg scatterers); parental care: none. Eggs are found attached to the substrate unguarded (Ref. 7043).
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2012-01-26. Resilience: Medium (tmax=4).

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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