Brindled madtom egg clutches are a viable food source for multiple opportunistic species including crustaceans, insects, and other fishes. Although most other "Noturus" species occur primarily in riffles, the brindled madtom occurs primarily in moderately silted pools with heavy texture and mild currents. The brindled madtom thrives in clean, benthic regions of pools in swift streams and rivers that have moderate siltation over a cobble or heavily textured bottom. The species thrives in water with consistent temperatures around . Temperatures above are not well tolerated, and mass mortalities observed at temperatures above . It takes one year for females and two years for males to mature sexually and nesting/reproduction extends from May to July, with regional variance according to water temperature. When reproduction begins, the mating pair guards their clutch of 50-100 eggs, which is usually deposited in a protective shelter with a very small opening such as under rocks or in bottles/cans that litter the waterways; and these shelters are layered with mud or silt by the parents. The brindled madtom can produce multiple clutches per year and the average lifespan of the species is about 3 years, with most specimens being found in the 2 year old range. The selective nature of this species as it relates to reproduction habitat puts the reproductive fitness of the species as a whole, in jeopardy. Since this species prefers a substrate which has equal stone, cobble, sediment and texture which provides shelter and preferred nesting opportunities, even the slightest disturbance can drastically alter and distort the balance needed for fitness. The decrease in preferred habitat has contributed to the decline of various species of madtoms, leading to an inter-species breeding, specifically between the brindled madtom and the tadpole madtom, which may lead to further chromosomal evolution within this species as identified by LeGrand's study.