The Sharphead Darter is restricted to the Nolichucky and Holston river systems in northeast Tennessee and southwest Virginia. As the common name implies, this darter has an extremely pointed snout, like most other members of the subgenus Nothonotus. This species was considered extinct when it was described in 1959 because of the impoundment of South Holston Reservoir. It was later discovered in the Nolichucky River and rediscovered in the upper Holston River during surveys in 1967-1972.