The longear sunfish is a freshwater fish in the sunfish family, Centrarchidae, of order Perciformes. It is native to the area of eastern North America stretching from the Great Lakes down to northeastern Mexico. The longear sunfish reaches a maximum recorded length of about 24 cm , with a maximum recorded weight of 790g . Most do not live beyond six years. The longear sunfish is quite colorful, with an olive to rusty-brown back, bright orange belly and blue-green bars on the sides of its head... more
Similar species: Centrarchiformes
By Zach Alley
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Uploaded Jun 11, 2020. Captured Jun 1, 2020 06:18.
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Posted 5 years ago
The longear sunfish (Lepomis megalotis) is exclusively found in North America, primarily in the Mississippi River and Great Lakes watersheds. They live in densely vegetated, shallow, slow waters where they eat aquatic invertebrates and small fish. Their common name comes from a unique feature—an elongated operculum flap, which looks like a “long ear”.
Longear sunfish are colonial nesters. Males build nests and then they guard it during all phases of reproduction. They even fan the eggs to maintain temperature and clean off debris. If a breeding female approaches the area, the male will lead her to his nest. Then, they circle the nest, shudder, and release their eggs and sperm into the nest. The total number of eggs can exceed 2,800! Afterwards, the female leaves, and the male is left to care for the eggs by himself.
BUT, it’s not always this straightforward. Some male longear sunfish employ sly reproductive strategies: they can be sneakers or satellites. Sneaker males are usually younger and less colorful than nest-building (dominant) males. The sneaker is, well, sneaky. He hides near a nest, and then dashes warp-speed into the nest to release his sperm while the dominant male is spawning with a female. Thus, his sperm gets mixed in and some of the babies will be his progeny. A satellite male will hover over a nest, acting (and looking) like a non-threatening female. Then, he casually descends into the nest while the dominant male is busy spawning with a female, and he adds his own sperm into the mix. One would imagine both of these devious techniques to be quite annoying to the hardworking, nest-building male. But, colonial nesting seems to favor the existence of these lothario males, who shoot their sperm where it doesn’t belong. {Spotted in Missouri, USA by JungleDragon user, Zach Alley} #JungleDragon #LongearSunfish #Lepomismegalotis
https://www.facebook.com/jungledragonwildlife/ Posted 5 years ago