Breeding males have a greenish blue wash over their body and the head is brownish gold color.

They are found in the Gulf of Mexico drainage in the southeastern United States (Tennessee, Georgia, Florida, Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana).

[1] Blackbanded darters tend to live in intermediate microhabitat that has more erosional substrata and greater variety of depth.

[4] Blackbanded darters are insectivores and feed on mayflies, midges, blackflies, caddisflies, or anything that is no larger than 5 mm (0.2 in) long.

[5][6] The primary predators for the blackbanded darter are stonecats, largemouth bass, and other larger freshwater fish species.

[citation needed] The life history of the blackbanded darter depends on geographic variation in environmental condition such as photoperiod and water temperature.