Darter Fish Barred Fantail

Barred Fantail Darter
Etheostoma flabellare

Max Size : 3”, but typically under 2”
max. reported age: 4 years

Freshwater or Brackish okay 
 
Temp: 39°F - 79°F 
 
Native to: North America: Atlantic, Great Lakes, and Mississippi River basins from southern Quebec in Canada to Minnesota, and south to South Carolina (in Santee River system) in northern Alabama, and northeastern Oklahoma in the USA.

The Barred Fantail Darter is one of the more common and widely distributed of the 22 species of darters.  They tend to inhabit the more sluggish riffles with moderate currents in creeks and upland rivers less than 18 inches deep, with substrates composed of gravel, flat rocks, and boulders.  Adults in native water feed on midge, blackflys, caddisfly larvae, mayfly nymphs, isopods, and amphipods.  They will eat micro organisms in the aquarium and small pelletized foods.  Eggs are found clustered on underside of stone and guarded by males.   They reach their greatest levels of abundance in warm water streams and are less affected by most pollutants and siltation than other species of darters.  Fantails make an interesting addition to a freshwater aquarium.