Percidae

Fringed darter

Etheostoma crossopterum

Ten Centimeters Percid Fish

• Temperate
• Lower river
• Northern Hemisphere
• Regional distribution
• Freshwater fish
• North America
• Small
• Temperate fish

The fringed darter (Etheostoma crossopterum) 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 drainage of the Cumberland River, the Duck River system, the Shoal Creek system, and the tributaries of the Reelfoot Lakes of Kentucky, Tennessee, and Alabama. It is an inhabitant of small streams and rocky pool and nearby riffles where they prey on insect larvae and nymphs, as well as small crustaceans.