Pteronotropis merlini (Suttkus & Mettee 2001)

Body very deep. Caudal fin and most of the anal fin on nuptial males are bright orange. Nuptial males have a chevron or lunate-shaped blotch of dark pigment slightly separated from the posterior end of the dark lateral band. Anterior rays of dorsal fin fall short of the tips of the posterior rays in the depressed fin (Ref. 40813).

Dorsal soft rays (total): 7 - 9; Analsoft rays: 8 - 11; Vertebrae: 36 - 38

Inhabits sand-bottomed and silt-bottomed pools and runs of headwaters, creeks and small rivers, usually along undercut banks and debris (Ref. 86798). Occurs in reduced current, under overhanging vegetation or an overhanging bank, around stumps or roots, or occasionally under floating debris caught on snags or trailing brush of Smilax or Vitis vines (Ref. 40813).