Spotted sunfish
Lepomis punctatus
The spotted sunfish is a member of the freshwater sunfish family Centrarchidae and order perciformes. The redspotted sunfish, redear sunfish and pumpkinseed sunfish are its closest relatives.
''Lepomis punctatus'' is olive-green to brown in color with black to reddish spots at the base of each scale that form rows of dots on the side. The scientific name punctatus refers to this spotted pattern. It was first described in 1831 by Valenciennes.
The spotted sunfish is a warmwater native of the Southeastern United States that inhabits areas of slow moving water. It is a benthic insectivore. Spotted sunfish do not commonly exceed 10 cm and a weight of 3 oz. It has some value as a pan fish and is occasionally caught by bream anglers. Spotted sunfish exhibit similar breeding behavior to other sunfishes. A single male guards a nest with multiple females. It is evaluated by the IUCN as a Least concern species and shows little danger of decline or high sensitivity to habitat changes. It has been suggested that it could be used as an indicator species, making it valuable to stream management. The spotted sunfish is a habitat generalist, but prefers complex habitats. It has not been established as an invasive species in other parts of the world.
Originally ''Lepomis punctatus'' and ''Lepomis miniatus'' were both classified as the same species ''Lepomis punctatus''. Morphological differences and molecular evidence supported a significant difference in the eastern and western species of ''Lepomis punctatus.'' The species was divided into subspecies ''Lepomis punctatus punctatus'' in the east and ''Lepomis punctatus miniatus'' in the west. Later ''miniatus'' was elevated into its own species.
''Lepomis punctatus'' is olive-green to brown in color with black to reddish spots at the base of each scale that form rows of dots on the side. The scientific name punctatus refers to this spotted pattern. It was first described in 1831 by Valenciennes.
The spotted sunfish is a warmwater native of the Southeastern United States that inhabits areas of slow moving water. It is a benthic insectivore. Spotted sunfish do not commonly exceed 10 cm and a weight of 3 oz. It has some value as a pan fish and is occasionally caught by bream anglers. Spotted sunfish exhibit similar breeding behavior to other sunfishes. A single male guards a nest with multiple females. It is evaluated by the IUCN as a Least concern species and shows little danger of decline or high sensitivity to habitat changes. It has been suggested that it could be used as an indicator species, making it valuable to stream management. The spotted sunfish is a habitat generalist, but prefers complex habitats. It has not been established as an invasive species in other parts of the world.
Originally ''Lepomis punctatus'' and ''Lepomis miniatus'' were both classified as the same species ''Lepomis punctatus''. Morphological differences and molecular evidence supported a significant difference in the eastern and western species of ''Lepomis punctatus.'' The species was divided into subspecies ''Lepomis punctatus punctatus'' in the east and ''Lepomis punctatus miniatus'' in the west. Later ''miniatus'' was elevated into its own species.