Percina burtoni is distinguished from its congener P. apina by having lower mean number of lateral line scales (89.92 vs. 93.09), pored lateral line scales (88.78 vs. 91.59), transverse scale rows (33.59 vs. 38.09), and scales around the caudal peduncle (33.54 vs. 36.22); shape of the midlateral blotches tend to be higher than wide (vs. typically wider than high in P. apina); all blotches are distinctly round in shape (vs. posteriormost blotches ovoid or rectangular in shape in P. apina); pigmentation is diffuse at the ventral margins of the blotches (pigmentation along the edges of the blotches is sharply defined in P. apina) (Ref. 116752).