Fantail Darter

The fantail darter is a small, slender fish, typically reaching lengths of 1.5 to 3 inches. Its coloration ranges from olive-brown to tan, often featuring dark horizontal stripes or "pencil lines" along its sides. The species is characterized by a small head and a terminal mouth. A defining feature of the males is the presence of fleshy, gold-colored knobs on the tips of the spines of the first dorsal fin, which are used to mimic eggs during the breeding season. The tail fin is rounded and often displays several dark vertical bars.

The fantail darter is distributed across much of eastern North America, from the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River basins to South Carolina and northern Alabama, in small streams. They can be found as far west as northeastern Oklahoma. These darters, like many others, live in smaller streams. Due to their breeding habits, they are found in areas of the stream with cobbles and flat stones. These fish are especially abundant near large slabs of limestone or shale. Partly because of their wide range of habitats, fantail darters have not been labelled as endangered.

It is well-adapted for stream life, and the environmental changes that occur in streams as the seasons change. Changes can include the loss of microhabitats, when the fish must drift downstream to find another, and also include changes in oxygen levels due to pollution or weather.

Similar to other darters, fantail darters have several predators. They are also well-colored for their habitats, and they blend in easily with the surrounding stream bed and rocks.

Depending on the size of the specific darter, they can eat anything from tiny insects to larger insects and larve. Their food sources can include mayflies, caddisflies, dipterans, copepods, cladocerans, amphipods, isopods, and gastropods. Food for the larger fantail darters can include the larger type of insects, including mayfly and midge larvae.