Green Sunfish
Lepomis cyanellus
Summary 3
The green sunfish (Lepomis cyanellus) is a species of freshwater fish in the sunfish family (family Centrarchidae) of order Perciformes. A panfish popular with anglers, the green sunfish is also kept as an aquarium fish by hobbyists. They are usually caught by accident, while fishing for other game fish. Green sunfish can be caught with live bait such as nightcrawlers, waxworms, and mealworms. Grocery store baits such as pieces of hot dog or corn kernels can...
Distribution 4
Global Range: Native to most of central and eastern U.S. west of Appalachians, east of Continental Divide, from Great Lakes region (including Great Lakes, Hudson Bay, and Mississippi River basins) south to Gulf Coast states and northeastern Mexico (Gulf Slope drainages from Escambia River, Florida, and Mobile Bay, Georgia and Alabama, to Rio Grande, Texas; introduced widely elsewhere in U.S. and in Germany. Generally common to abundant.
Habitat 5
Lepomis cyanellus is a species with a wide tolerance to many different aquatic conditions, one reason why they have been successfully introduced elsewhere. They prefer smaller, sluggish streams and ponds, but can also inhabit lakes with weedy shorelines and slow rivers. They tolerate both turbid and clear water.
Habitat Regions: temperate ; freshwater
Aquatic Biomes: benthic ; lakes and ponds; rivers and streams
Morphology 6
Lepomis cyanellus, like the other members of the Centrarchidae family, is brightly colored. In comparison to the other members it has a wider body (more cigar shaped) and a much larger mouth. They do not grow large enough to be considered desirable “pan-fish,” because their average length is only 12.7 to 15.24 centimeters. This is sometimes due to overpopulation, which can stunt growth. Lepomis cyanellus is blue-green in color with scattered dots of black and a white to yellow belly. They have a dark spot on the soft spinous portion of the dorsal fin, and sometimes a spot on the posterior portion of their anal fin. Females have dusky colored bars on the dorsolateral portion of their body. Immature individuals lack striking color patterns, and instead are plain gray without bands. Breeding males normally have an orange tint to the anal, caudal, pelvic, and posterior dorsal fins and vivid black, orange, and white color on their anal fin. Lepomis cyanellus has palatine teeth and 28 to 29 vertebrae. Entier and Starnes (2001) state that L. cyanellus typically has “anal fin soft rays 9 to 10 (8 to 11). Pectoral fin rays 13 to 15. Gill rakers 11 to 14.”
Range mass: .97 (high) kg.
Range length: 30.48 (high) cm.
Average length: 12.7-15.24 cm.
Other Physical Features: ectothermic ; heterothermic ; bilateral symmetry
Sexual Dimorphism: male more colorful
Nature serve conservation status 7
Rounded Global Status Rank: G5 - Secure
Physical description 8
Lepomis_cyanellus, like the other members of the Centrarchidae family, is brightly colored. In comparison to the other members it has a wider body (more cigar shaped) and a much larger mouth. They do not grow large enough to be considered desirable “pan-fish,” because their average length is only 12.7 to 15.24 centimeters. This is sometimes due to overpopulation, which can stunt growth. Lepomis_cyanellus is blue-green in color with scattered dots of black and a white to yellow belly. They have a dark spot on the soft spinous portion of the dorsal fin, and sometimes a spot on the posterior portion of their anal fin. Females have dusky colored bars on the dorsolateral portion of their body. Immature individuals lack striking color patterns, and instead are plain gray without bands. Breeding males normally have an orange tint to the anal, caudal, pelvic, and posterior dorsal fins and vivid black, orange, and white color on their anal fin. Lepomis_cyanellus has palatine teeth and 28 to 29 vertebrae. Entier and Starnes (2001) state that L._cyanellus typically has “anal fin soft rays 9 to 10 (8 to 11). Pectoral fin rays 13 to 15. Gill rakers 11 to 14.”
Range mass: .97 (high) kg.
Range length: 30.48 (high) cm.
Average length: 12.7-15.24 cm.
Other Physical Features: ectothermic ; heterothermic ; bilateral symmetry
Sexual Dimorphism: male more colorful
Sources and Credits
- (c) Noel Burkhead, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://www.flickr.com/photos/51614465@N08/4882867380
- (c) Jeff Brennan, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Jeff Brennan
- Adapted by rkkessler from a work by (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lepomis_cyanellus
- (c) NatureServe, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://eol.org/data_objects/28762988
- (c) The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/31401685
- (c) The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/31401686
- (c) NatureServe, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://eol.org/data_objects/28762984
- (c) The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/25065312
