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MBSS Fish Information
TESSELLATED DARTER
Etheostoma olmstedi

The Tessellated darter is a member of the Perch family (Percidae). The male tessellated darter has a curious behavior of frequently caring for nests containing eggs that it did not fertilize.

The map below shows presence (green circles) of this species in the 1995-2019 MBSS dataset.
Illustration by Dave Neely

Distribution of Tessellated darter in Maryland (MBSS data):

The MBSS has collected the following fishes in the family Percidae:

Common Name Genus & species
Fantail darter Etheostoma flabellare
Greenside darter Etheostoma blennioides
Tessellated darter Etheostoma olmstedi
Yellow perch Perca flavescens
Banded darter Etheostoma zonale
Rainbow darter Etheostoma caeruleum