Savannah darter
species of fish
The Savannah darter (Etheostoma fricksium) 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 Edisto, Combahee, Broad and Savannah River drainages in South Carolina and Georgia. It inhabits gravel riffles, gravel and sand runs of creeks and small rivers. This species can reach a length of 7.4 cm (2.9 in).
Description
Darters have fusiform, cylindrical bodies, large paired fins and poorly developed swim bladders; they rest on the substrate, using their pectoral fins to prop themselves up. The Savannah darter has a maximum total length of 7.4 cm (2.9 in) but a more typical length is 3.5 to 6 cm (1.4 to 2.4 in). Males are usually larger than females, but females are more abundant.
The dorsal fin has 10 or 11 spines and 12 soft rays, the pectoral fin has 13 to 14 rays and the anal fin has 2 spines and 8 to 9 rays. This fish has a small conical head and a broad tan or golden stripe running along the spine, flanked on either side by a dark stripe. This is variable in color and sometimes appears faded, but the pale dorsal stripe is always distinct.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Savannah darter” as species of fish. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
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The subject matters to the science & nature register because the source frames it as species of fish. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
The date and method of observation matter as much as the stated conclusion, especially where classification or consensus has changed. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 21, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q3765979. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.
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This entry incorporates text from “Savannah darter” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.