This species inhabits well-oxygenated second- and third-order streams or low-gradient first-order streams in areas with loose gravel and moderate to fast-flowing water. It tends to prefer rapids and riffles rather than pools. Individuals hide under cover objects during the day and emerge to feed at night (Green et al. 2014). It is a larval developer and attaches eggs to undersides of rocks or logs in main current of stream. This species is intolerant of habitat disturbance, such as siltation.

This species is thought to be a complex, and taxonomic work is continuing to clarify the identity and range boundaries of its members. The provisional range of this species includes records from southwestern Virginia southwards east of the Appalachian divide through North Carolina. Subpopulations from northeastern Georgia and adjacent North and South Carolina that were previously assigned to this species have been reallocated to Desmognathus aureatus, and those on the west side of the continental divide in the Appalachian Nantahala drainage of eastern Tennessee and North Carolina have been assigned to D. melanius (Dubois and Raffaëlli 2009, Beamer and Lamb 2020) which is now treated as D. intermedius (Raffaëlli, 2022). It occurs at elevations ranging between 205–1,676 m asl (Contant and Collins 1991, Petranka 1998). Its extent of occurrence (EOO) is 10,966 km².

Conservation Actions In-Place
This species occurs in several protected areas.

Conservation Needed
Expansion of effective stream preservation and continued management of existing protected areas is recommended for the conservation of this species. Specifically, the prevention of stream siltation and impoundment are the primary conservation needs.

Research Needed
More information is needed on this species' distribution, population status, ecology, and threats. Additionally, further work is needed to investigate this species complex and elucidate the taxonomic identity of its members.