The stoneroller is brownish and mottled in color; males are reddish with numerous tubercles during spring spawning season. The stoneroller reaches about 8 inches in length. In New York, this fish is found in clear brooks, creeks, and small rivers of the St. Lawrence River system, the southern tributaries of Lake Ontario, and the upper Susquehanna River system.

The stoneroller prefers the riffle areas of small to medium-sized streams of moderate gradient. This fish is a bottom feeder, living on insect larvae, small mollusks, and filamentous algae. The stoneroller moves up small tributary streams to spawn in spring. One or several males make a nest, which is a pile of small stones about 1 foot in diameter, on clean gravel. The stones in this nest, some of which may be 1/2 inch in diameter, are carried and placed there by the males.

Distribution of the central stoneroller in NY state.

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