Like other members of the family, darters possess two dorsal fins. Their size ranges from 2.5 to 23 cm (1 to 9 inches), but the majority of darters are 5–7 cm long. Some darters are among the most brightly coloured fishes in North America, the males becoming especially colourful during the spring breeding season. Spawning habits vary. Some species scatter or bury their eggs and abandon them; in other species, the males establish nests and guard the eggs until hatched.

Numerous darter species are becoming rare, and several are listed as threatened or endangered in the Red Data Book. Most of these rare species, including the celebrated snail darter (Percina tanasi) of the Little Tennessee River in southeastern United States, are threatened because of loss of their natural habitats. The snail darter became the subject of a legal controversy in 1978, when its status as an endangered species delayed for two years the construction of a dam that apparently threatened its restricted habitat.