Sawcheek Darter

Etheostoma serrifer

Percidae · freshwater water fish

2 minute read · Species guide

Sawcheek Darter field guide illustration

About Sawcheek Darter

The Sawcheek darter (Etheostoma serrifer) 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 Atlantic coastal plain from Great Dismal Swamp of southern Virginia to Altamaha River drainage of Georgia. It occurs near vegetation in swamps, lakes, sluggish headwaters, creeks and small rivers. This species can reach a length of 6.8 cm (2.7 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 muck, clay or silt, sand, organic debris. 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 for the source’s reporting region (VA). This is a regional calendar, not a range-wide schedule.

The reproductive-guild classification includes spawning on open substrates without guarding the brood.

Size and recorded longevity

FishTraits reports a maximum total length of 6.8 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 2 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 966 GBIF observation records with a state location, across 5 states. The orange dots are USGS stream-survey sites where this species was caught.
0%
77%
Share of 966 GBIF observation records with a state location, across 5 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.

The USGS stream survey caught it at 59 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 serrifer
ITIS TSN
168362
WoRMS AphiaID
1525386
GBIF key
2382386

Common questions about Sawcheek Darter

What is the scientific name of Sawcheek Darter?
The scientific name is Etheostoma serrifer, in the family Percidae. Classification follows ITIS.
Does Sawcheek Darter live in fresh water or salt water?
WoRMS records this species in fresh water.
Where has Sawcheek Darter been recorded in the United States?
GBIF has observations in 5 states, with the most records in North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia. The map shows observation records, which do not establish the complete natural range.

Closest relatives

Other Etheostoma species

Same family

More Percidae

All 229 species in Percidae