Back and upper sides mottled olive-brown with 6 - 7 dark brown cross bars, sides covered with dark green bars with yellow-white belly, dusky bar beneath the eye and another extending forward from onto snout.
Widespread distribution in rivers and large creeks in Iowa but not abundant.
No diet is know for this fish.
State Records are not documented for non-game species.
The banded darter can be found in all the principal drainage systems of the eastern and northeast Iowa, as well as maintaining populations in the Lizard Creek and upper Iowa River watersheds. It inhabits the upper reaches of Iowa’s major interior rivers, such as the Cedar and Maquoketa rivers, but attains greatest abundance in smaller tributaries of these rivers. Although its distribution is relatively widespread, the banded darter is nowhere common and in most collections is listed as rare. Within the Misissippi River system the banded darter occurs from the Verdign`s River in Kansas eastward to the upper Allegheny River basin in New York and from the Minnesota River south to the Fall Line. The banded darter remains relatively common throughout most of its range. However, populations on the margin of its range, particularly to the west, appear in jeopardy.
In Iowa, this colorful species inhabits the rocky riffles of the upper reaches of our major interior streams, such as the Cedar and Maquoketa rivers. It attains greatest abundance in smaller streams and creeks feeding these rivers.
Adult banded darters are often found in swift riffles over gravel or rubble bottoms. They are found in abundance within rocky riffles having dense growths of filamentous algae (Cladophora), eel grass (Valisneria) pondweed (Potamogeton) or aquatic mosses. Juveniles prefer quiet water around emergent aquatic plants such as waterwillow (Justicia) or in accumulations of leaves. Researchers have found that spawning concentrations were highest in riffles of streams with moderate to high gradients with a width less than 50 ft. and depth less than 2 ft, and that that the banded darter winters in deeper waters. Very little is known concerning life habits of the species.
Recent stream sampling information is available from Iowa DNR's biological monitoring and assessment program.
Harlan, J.R., E.B. Speaker, and J. Mayhew. 1987. Iowa fish and fishing. Iowa Conservation Commission, Des Moines, Iowa. 323pp.
Loan-Wilsey, A. K., C. L. Pierce, K. L. Kane, P. D. Brown and R. L. McNeely. 2005. The Iowa Aquatic Gap Analysis Project Final Report. Iowa Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Iowa State University, Ames.
Photo credit: Photo courtesy of Ohio Department of Natural Resources. http://www.ohiodnr.com