The Yazoo darter inhabits small, clear, mostly spring-fed streams with substrates that include clay, sand, gravel, or silt. Its range encompasses headwater streams in the Little Tallahatchie River's watershed, including the Tippah River and Cypress Creek. The range includes
Benton,
Lafayette,
Marshall,
Tate,
Tippah, and
Union counties and parts of
Holly Springs National Forest. Prior to 2020, populations in the
Yocona River watershed were considered to be a unique clade of
E. raneyi. Based on mitochondrial DNA, it was initially determined that there are two monophyletic clades, those in the Little Tallahatchie River and those in the Yocona River drainages. Further genetic and morphological analyses determined the two populations were different species, with
E. raneyi in the Little Tallahatchie River watershed, while the population in the Yocona River watershed was described as a new species,
E. faulkneri. ==Behavior==