The backwater darter (Etheostoma zonifer), a species of freshwater ray-finned fish, is a darter from the subfamily Etheostomatinae, which is part of the family Percidae. Percidae also contains the perches, ruffes and pikeperches. The Backwater darter is endemic to the eastern United States, where it occurs in coastal plain streams in the Mobile Bay drainage in Alabama and Mississippi. It occurs mud-bottomed, often vegetated, pools of sluggish creeks and small rivers. This species can reach a length of 4.4 cm (1.7 in).

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