Spottail Darter: Facts & Habitat

About Spottail Darter

The spottail darter (Etheostoma squamiceps) 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. It is found in the Ohio River basin and in the Red River system of the Cumberland River drainage. It inhabits rocky pools and nearby riffles of flowing waters up to the size of small rivers.

NativeFresh8 states

Description

The spottail darter takes its common name from the three spots at the base of the caudal fin. This species can reach a length of 8.8 centimetres (3.5 in) TL though most only reach about 4.6 centimetres (1.8 in).

Habitat and ecology

The spottail darter inhabits quiet rocky pools of headwaters, creeks, and small rivers with either large flat rocks or with bedrock bottom; individuals hide in crevices and under ledges, and they may be in quiet riffles in late summer when water in pools is too low to provide cover. Eggs are laid on undersides of slab stones in shallow pools.

Conservation

The Spottail darter is currently of relatively low conservation concern and does not require significant additional protection or major management, monitoring, or research action. No major threats are known.

Taxonomy

The spottail darter was first formally described in 1877 by the American ichthyologist David Starr Jordan (1851–1931) with the type locality given as Russellville in Logan County, Kentucky. The specific name is a compound of squamus meaning "scale"and ceps meaning"head", a reference to the scaled head of this species. It is regarded as a member of the subgenus Catonotus.

Article text: Wikipedia contributors, Spottail 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 cobble, bedrock. 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 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 8.8 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 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

41.7%of mapped records

Share of 817 GBIF observation records with a state location, across 8 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 98 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 squamiceps
ITIS TSN: 168436
WoRMS AphiaID: 1020186
GBIF key: 2382272

Common questions about Spottail Darter

What is the scientific name of Spottail Darter?

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

Does Spottail Darter live in fresh water or salt water?

WoRMS records this species in fresh water.

Where has Spottail Darter been recorded in the United States?

GBIF has observations in 8 states, with the most records in Kentucky, Tennessee, Illinois. The map shows observation records, which do not establish the complete natural range.

Closest relatives