The Stripetail Darter is found in the lower Ohio River drainages, including the Tennessee and Cumberland river drainages in Tennessee, Kentucky, and Alabama. They live in riffles with gravel substrate of creeks to medium rivers. Like other members of the subgenus Catonotus, this species spawns on the underside of flat rocks. In this group, males of some species have knobs on their first dorsal fin that are hypothesized to serve as an “egg-mimic” to attract females for spawning. As the common name suggests, Stripetail Darters have many bands or “stripes” in the tail.