It is found in the Savannah, Ogeechee and Altamaha catchment areas in South Carolina and Georgia.

It is a small but colorful fish, typically less than 5 cm (2 in) in total length, with blackish, red and green streaks on its flanks.

Like other darters, it lives on or close to the stream-bed, in riffles and vegetation-laden stretches of small rivers, creeks and spring-fed streams.

In South Carolina, it is considered a conservation priority species, as it may be threatened in future by impoundment of rivers, siltation and deforestation.

[1] Its common name of "Christmas darter" is due to the red and green stripes on its body.

[7] However, the Christmas Eve darter, as E. binotatum, is sometimes identified as a full species rather than a subspecies,[3] such as by the National Center for Biotechnology Information.

The flanks have ten to twelve dark bars that turn green or blueish-green in breeding males.

The caudal peduncle (end of fish's body where tail fin attaches) has a row of four, somewhat irregular, dark spots.

The nominate population is restricted to the Altamaha and Ogeechee River drainage basins in Georgia, both above and below the fall line, while the Christmas Eve darter occurs in the Savannah River catchment area, on the border between Georgia and South Carolina.

Hybrid offspring from a Christmas darter female were often severely deformed, dying before hatching.

The hybrid offspring of redband darter females had much higher likelihoods of successfully hatching.

[15] Though not presently threatened with extinction, alteration of the watersheds it lives in could seriously reduce its range in the future.