Darters and sculpin both stay on the bottom, Dace do not.
johnny darters show the [color=CC3333]bottom-dwelling[/color] and darting movement typical of other darters. They are sight-feeders, as are other darters. Johnny darters eat zooplankton, midge larvae, mayflies, caddis larvae and other small insects, worms and small snails. The males grow faster than females after the first year. Where they are present, they are a food source for other fishes.
Tesselated” refers to the fish’s having a mosaic-like or checkered pattern. The tesselated darter’s coloration is pale-sandy, fading to white on the bottom. The back and upper sides of the tesselated darter have nine to 11 pronounced, small X-shaped or W-shaped marks. This species, like the johnny darter, has a single anal fin spine. Other darters in Pennsylvania have two anal fin spines. The mouth is positioned low and is horizontal. The mouth ends below the front of the eye.
Tesselated darter breeding adults develop 12 or 13 vertical bars on the sides, while losing the X-shaped and W-shaped markings. The upper side scales become wholly outlined in a dark color. The fin membranes, except those of the pectoral fins, grow dark with lighter tips on the pelvic and pectoral fins. In this phase, tesselated darters are sometimes mistaken for small yellow perch. Tesselated darters reach a length of about 3 1/2 inches.
Habitat: The tesselated darter prefers the quieter portions of sandy or mud-bottomed flowing water or still water, except in the breeding season.
look in the slower back waters on the bottom you'll see them "darting" around the bottom rocks and sand. trout love them and a good darter pattern works well.