Blackside darter

The Blackside darter lives in the benthopelagic, freshwater environment.

Special Requirements: Blackside Darters need good water circulation / aeration. These fish feed off the bottom and may feed slowly, so be sure that sufficient food gets to the bottom of the tank. Blackside Darters also eat small meals and do best when fed twice daily. More

* Comments: The blackside darter has a very restricted and isolated population in Kansas making it vulnerable to extirpation. Man-made or natural events such as pollution spills or severe droughts pose threats. More

The Blackside darter is the second most common of the 8 Percina species of darters found in Ohio. More

The blackside darter (Percina maculata Girard) was reported from the "North Red River" near latitude 46 and the Maple River in 1857 (Smithsonian Institution 1994) (Fig. A72). More

blackside darter has been reported from mouth to headwaters in nearly every stream in the Red River basin. More

and blackside darters of Boone County, Iowa. Iowa Acad. Sci. 70:228-236. Lindsey, H.L., J.C. Randolph, and J. Carroll. 1983. Updated survey of the fishes of the Poteau River, Oklahoma and Arkansas. Proc. Okla. Acad. Sci. 63:42-48. More

They differ from the very similar blackside darter in having three dark blotches at the base of their tail placed vertically above one another. The bottom two of these blotches are often fused together. More

The blackside darter is widely distributed throughout the Mississippi River basin (Harlan et al. 1987). It has also been documented in the Lower Big Sioux and Floyd Rivers in the northwestern corner of the state. More

Blackside - The blackside darter is similar to the undescribed “muscadine darter” except is has more soft dorsal fin rays and more lateral line scales. More

blackside darter do possess a swim bladder to help them remain suspended in the water column. Overall, darters are small. However, there is considerable variation in maximum length among the species found in Pennsylvania. The Eastern sand darter (2. More

The blackside darter is a black and white fish. It lives in clear streams and sometimes can be observed feeding in the water while the water current is slow. More

Common names

blackside darter in English
Pertsina in Russian (русский язык)
Sortsidet smutte in Danish (dansk)
黑斑小鱸 in Mandarin Chinese
黑斑小鲈 in Mandarin Chinese

Order : Perciformes
Family : Percidae
Genus : Percina
Species : Percina maculata
Authority : Girard, 1859