The Scaly Sand Darter is found primarily in lowland creeks and small rivers from Mississippi and Gulf Coast drainages in eastern Texas and Oklahoma to Mississippi, western Tennessee, and a small part of southwest Alabama. There are only two records for this species in the Tennessee River Drainage. All Sand darters are translucent, so they blend in with the sand substrate they live upon. Scaly Sand Darters have vertical dark green blotches along the side.