This is a small (3 in.) mottled dark-and light-brown catfish with dark bars on the tail and dusky streaks on the dorsal and anal fins. Neosho Madtoms are found only in riffles and along sloping gravel bars in relatively clear moderately-large rivers. Deep deposits of loose, 8-16 mm dia., rounded limestone gravel in moderate to swift currents seems to be preferred.
In Kansas, Neosho Madtoms are known only from the Cottonwood, Neosho, and Spring Rivers. They occasionally be locally abundant but exhibit fluctuating densities at any specific locality.

Neosho Madtoms are protected by the Kansas Nongame and Endangered Species Conservation Act, the Federal Endangered Species Act, and state and federal regulations applicable to those acts. Any time an eligible project is proposed that will impact the species’ preferred habitats within its probable range, the project sponsor must contact the Ecological Services Section, Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism, 512 SE 25th Ave., Pratt, Kansas 67124-8174. Department personnel can then advise the project sponsor on permit requirements. Sponsors of projects impacting Neosho Madtom habitats must also contact the Endangered Species Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 315 Houston Street, Suite E, Manhattan, Kansas 66502.

As defined by Kansas Administrative Regulations, critical habitats include those areas documented as currently supporting self-sustaining population(s) of any threatened or endangered species of wildlife as well as those areas determined by the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism to be essential for the conservation of any threatened or endangered species of wildlife.

Currently, the following areas are designated critical for Neosho Madtoms:

(1) The main stem Cottonwood River from the point it enters Chase County at Sec. 1, T21S, R5E to its confluence with the Neosho River at Sec. 23, T19S, R12E, Lyon County.
(2) The main stem Neosho River from its point of discharge from Council Grove Reservoir in Sec. 10, T16S, R8E, Morris County to the point it leaves Lyon County in Sec. 15, T20S, R13E.
(3) The main stem Neosho River from its point of discharge from John Redmond Reservoir at Sec. 10, T21S, R15E. Coffey County to the Kansas-Oklahoma border at Sec. 18, T35S, R22E, Cherokee County.
(4) The main stem Spring River from the Kansas-Missouri border to a point where it crosses the west boundary of Sec. 36, T33S, R25E, Cherokee County.
(5) The main stem of the South Fork of the Cottonwood River in Chase County where it enters Sec. 14, T20S, R8E, until its confluence with the Cottonwood River (Sec. 25, T19S, R8E). The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service also has authority to designate areas of critical habitat for federally listed endangered species, but has not done so for Neosho Madtoms in Kansas.