Stonerollers have a rounded snout overhanging a crescent-shaped mouth, a hard ridge of cartilage on the lower lip, and irregular patches of dark colored scales on the sides of the body.

It requires some current and is most commonly found in riffles and pools of moderate to high gradient streams with a gravel substrate bottom.

[6] The central stoneroller is generally herbivorous, feeding primarily on algae scraped from rocks and logs with the cartilaginous ridge on its lower jaw.

Breeding males begin building nests in late winter and continue throughout midsummer, creating large, bowl-shaped depressions in calmer waters by rolling stones along the bottom with their noses, giving them their common name.

[9] The newly hatched fish school together to feed in the warmer and more protected backwaters and vegetated stream margins.

Central stonerollers also display some intolerance to heavy siltation or pollutants, which affect the quantity of available algae in pool and riffle habitats.