Image source: ihunta | inaturalist.org
The shield darter is a species of freshwater ray-finned fish from the Perch family, that attains a maximum total length of 9 centimetres (3.5 in), although around 6.4 centimetres (2.5 in) is a more common length. It has a body which is olive to tan in colour on the back marked with 6–7 horizontally rectangular black blotches on the flanks, which are normally connected by a thin black stripe. These blotches are connected to the 8–11 dark saddle marks by sinuous brown lines. On the caudal fin there is a black spot below the centre of its base and there is a large black teardrop shaped marking on the head. At the base of the first dorsal fin there is a row of black crescent shaped markings. Percina peltata is endemic to the eastern United States where it is found in the drainages of the Atlantic Slope from the Hudson and Susquehanna rivers in New York, to the James River In Virginia. A non native population has become established in the Rondout Creek and Hudson River drainage basins in New York via the Delaware and Hudson Canal.
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