Range and Identity
Etheostoma caeruleum occurs in North American waters of the Great Lakes and Mississippi drainage regions. Other darters can also show bright breeding colors. A record is more secure when it includes locality and identifying features instead of treating any colorful riffle fish as this species.
Habitat and Behavior
Adults use flowing riffles over gravel and rubble. Current and stone size describe the immediate occupied habitat more clearly than the name of the river alone. A nearby quiet pool may belong to the same reach without being equivalent to the riffle where a fish was observed.
Food and Life History
Aquatic insect larvae and fish eggs appear in food records. Spawning involves eggs buried in the substrate. The upper reference is 7.7 centimeters total length, with 5.3 centimeters given as a common size. A maximum mass is not estimated from those length values.
Field Note
Retain the riffle setting with a photograph. The combination of habitat, locality and appearance is more useful than a bright breeding color viewed without context.
All Lakes With Rainbow Darter
Browse lakes and reservoirs with documented Rainbow Darter records, listed alphabetically. Records do not establish current abundance or public access. Check the evidence and managing authority for the water you choose.
Showing 1–22 of 22 lakes · Page 1 of 1
- Baw Beese Lake Hillsdale, MI
- Big Chub Lake Otsego, MI
- Bridge Lake Otsego, MI
- Clifford Lake Montcalm, MI
- Crooked Lake Montmorency, MI
- East Lost Lake Otter Tail, MN
- Gull Lake Kalamazoo, MI
- Hand Lake Cook, MN
- Hemlock Lake Hillsdale, MI
- Huyck Lake Branch, MI
- Lake Esau Presque Isle, MI
- Lake Huron Alcona, MI
- Lake Phalen Ramsey, MN
- Lake Saint Clair Wayne, MI
- Long Lake Alpena, MI
- Morrison Lake Branch, MI
- Pickwick Lake Colbert, AL
- Portage Lake St. Joseph, MI
- Shellenbarger Lake Crawford, MI
- Silver Lake Branch, MI
- Sunken Lake Presque Isle, MI
- Union Lake Oakland, MI