It was endemic to the upper Mobile River Basin in the southeastern United States.

This species was found only in the shoals of rivers and large streams.

This habitat has been massively impacted by dam construction and dredging.

Due to habitat loss and pollution, this species is considered extinct.

Surveys conducted after that time have failed to find any live individuals in any of their previously known locations,[2] and in 2021 the United States Fish and Wildlife Service proposed officially labeling them as extinct.