Hatching took place after about 21 days at 65 F. Usually, only one male will nest under a single stone but as many as three have been noticed using the same stone where nesting sites were scarce. Sometimes the eggs were laid on the top and sides of rocks in crowded conditions. The diet of the tessellated darter is assumed to be similar to that of the johnny darter, dominated by entomostracans and small insects while the fish are small, gradually shifting to larger insects as the fish get bigger. Distribution of the tessellated darter in NY state. Dark dots represent where actual samples of tessellated darters were taken.
White dots represent historic distributions.
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