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Fringed Darter
Etheostoma crossopterum
Percidae · freshwater water fish
2 minute read · Species guide

About Fringed Darter
The fringed darter (Etheostoma crossopterum) is a species of freshwater ray-finned fish, a darter from the subfamily Etheostomatinae, part of the family Percidae, which also contains the perches, ruffes and pikeperches. It is endemic to the eastern United States, where it occurs in the drainage of the Cumberland River, the Duck River system, the Shoal Creek system, and the tributaries of the Reelfoot Lakes of Kentucky, Tennessee, and Alabama. It is an inhabitant of small streams and rocky pool and nearby riffles where they prey on insect larvae and nymphs, as well as small crustaceans. This species can reach a length of 10 cm (3.9 in).
Diet and feeding
The FishTraits compilation records these diet categories for this species: invertebrates or larval fish. These are broad categories, not a claim that every individual consumes every example in a category.
Reported feeding positions include bottom feeding. The compilation combines published observations; diets can vary with age, locality, and available food.
Habitat preferences
Reported habitat associations include streams and small rivers, creeks.
The source records associations with bedrock, vegetation. An association indicates reported use, rather than an exclusive requirement.
Reproduction and parental care
The compilation reports a representative maturity age of 1.5 years. Its maturity field summarizes mean, median, or modal estimates, usually for females; male estimates can be used when female data are unavailable. It is not a fixed age at which every fish first breeds.
Recorded spawning months are Mar, Apr, May for the source’s reporting region (TN). This is a regional calendar, not a range-wide schedule.
The reproductive-guild classification includes guarding eggs or young at a spawning substrate or nest.
Size and recorded longevity
FishTraits reports a maximum total length of 10 centimetres. Some entries use an estimated asymptotic length; this value should not be treated as a certified record catch.
Recorded longevity in the compilation is 3 years. Wild observations were preferred, but captive records were accepted where wild records were unavailable, and unspecified records were assumed wild. The value is not a guaranteed wild lifespan or an aquarium life expectancy.
Range
Where it lives
Share of records by state
Habitat
Water and movement
- Water
- WoRMS records this species in fresh water.
- Migration
- Undetermined
Classification
Taxonomy
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Superclass
- Actinopterygii
- Class
- Teleostei
- Order
- Perciformes
- Family
- Percidae
- Genus
- Etheostoma
- Species
- Etheostoma crossopterum
- ITIS TSN
- 168454
- WoRMS AphiaID
- 1011945
- GBIF key
- 2382407
Common questions about Fringed Darter
What is the scientific name of Fringed Darter?
Does Fringed Darter live in fresh water or salt water?
Where has Fringed Darter been recorded in the United States?
Closest relatives
Other Etheostoma species
Same family