Saffron Darter: Facts & Habitat

About Saffron Darter

The saffron darter (Etheostoma flavum) 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 is found in streams and creeks in Kentucky and Tennessee.

NativeFresh2 states

Appearance and Anatomy

The saffron darter, like many snubnose darters, has a blunt snout. Typically, nuptial males have a uniformly yellow lower side and olive upper side as compared to the black darter (Etheostoma duryi), which has an orange to red lower and upper side. 'The adult males have yellow to orange lips while E. duryi has green or gray lips. Lastly, the mid-lateral stripe pigmentation in the saffron darter is nearly as dark as the 7–9 black lateral blotches. This species attains a maximum total length of 7 centimetres (2.8 in).

Distribution

The saffron darter can be found in the lower Cumberland and Tennessee river drainages in Kentucky and Tennessee, upstream in Cumberland River drainages to Harpeth River, upstream in Tennessee River drainages (east side only), to upper Duck River, upper Buffalo River, and Indian River.

Ecology

The saffron darter inhabits rocky pools and adjacent riffles of headwaters, creeks, and small rivers. Some biologists believe that the saffron darter is one of the most abundant darters in the second and fourth order streams.

Taxonomy

The saffron darter was first formally described in 1989 by David A. Etnier and Reeve Maclaren Bailey (1911–2011) with the type locality given as Kentucky. It is a member of the subgenus Ulocentra and is closely related to the black darter and they have been known to both hybridize with each other and to competitively exclude each other, the saffron darter generally being found upstream of barriers and the black darter below them.

Article text: Wikipedia contributors, Saffron darter (source revision). Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Retrieved 2026-10-11.

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 gravel, cobble. An association indicates reported use, rather than an exclusive requirement.

Reproduction and parental care

The compilation reports a representative maturity age of 1 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, Jun 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 7.1 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 3.5 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

85.3%of mapped records

Share of 1,208 GBIF observation records with a state location, across 2 states. The orange dots are USGS stream-survey sites where this species was caught.

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 80 of its sites, in 2 states. 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 flavum
ITIS TSN: 168455
WoRMS AphiaID: 1011551
GBIF key: 2382346

Common questions about Saffron Darter

What is the scientific name of Saffron Darter?

The scientific name is Etheostoma flavum, in the family Percidae. Classification follows ITIS.

Does Saffron Darter live in fresh water or salt water?

WoRMS records this species in fresh water.

Where has Saffron Darter been recorded in the United States?

GBIF has observations in 2 states, with the most records in Tennessee, Kentucky. The map shows observation records, which do not establish the complete natural range.

Closest relatives