Article text: Wikipedia contributors, Longfin darter (source revision). Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Retrieved 2026-10-11.
Longfin Darter
Etheostoma longimanum
Percidae · freshwater water fish
2 minute read · Species guide

About Longfin Darter
The longfin darter (Etheostoma longimanum) 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 upper James River drainage in Virginia and West Virginia. It inhabits rocky riffles of creeks and small rivers. This species can reach a length of 8.9 cm (3.5 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.
Habitat preferences
Reported habitat associations include streams and small rivers, creeks.
The source records associations with gravel, cobble, boulders. 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 Apr, May for the source’s reporting region (VA). This is a regional calendar, not a range-wide schedule.
Size and recorded longevity
FishTraits reports a maximum total length of 7.4 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 4 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
A blank area on the dot layer usually means nobody sampled there, not that the fish is absent. Turn on “every survey site” to see where the survey looked.
Share of records by state
The USGS stream survey caught it at 20 of its sites, in 1 state. That survey and the GBIF records are two different counts of two different things, so the site keeps them apart.
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 longimanum
- ITIS TSN
- 168406
- WoRMS AphiaID
- 1019761
- GBIF key
- 2382279
Common questions about Longfin Darter
What is the scientific name of Longfin Darter?
Does Longfin Darter live in fresh water or salt water?
Where has Longfin Darter been recorded in the United States?
Closest relatives
Other Etheostoma species
Same family