''Lepomis'' or true sunfish is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

freshwater fish Freshwater fish are those that spend some or all of their lives in fresh water, such as rivers and lakes, with a salinity of less than 1.05%. These environments differ from marine conditions in many ways, especially the difference in levels of s ...

from the

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Centrarchidae Centrarchidae, better known as sunfishes, is a family of freshwater ray-finned fish belonging to the order Perciformes (formerly belonging to the deprecated order Centrarchiformes), native only to North America. There are eight universally inc ...

in the

order Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * Heterarchy, a system of organization wherein the elements have the potential to be ranked a number of d ...

Perciformes Perciformes (), also called the Percomorpha or Acanthopteri, is an order or superorder of ray-finned fish. If considered a single order, they are the most numerous order of vertebrates, containing about 41% of all bony fish. Perciformes means ...

(

perch Perch is a common name for fish of the genus ''Perca'', freshwater gamefish belonging to the family Percidae. The perch, of which three species occur in different geographical areas, lend their name to a large order of vertebrates: the Percif ...

-like fish). The generic name ''Lepomis'' derives from the

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

("scale") and ("cover", "plug", " operculum"). The genus' most recognizable

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specimen ...

is perhaps the

bluegill The bluegill (''Lepomis macrochirus''), sometimes referred to as "bream", "brim", "sunny", or "copper nose" as is common in Texas, is a species of North American freshwater fish, native to and commonly found in streams, rivers, lakes, ponds and ...

. Some ''Lepomis'' species can grow to a maximum overall length of , though most average around . Many species are sought by anglers as popular

panfish The word panfish, also spelled pan-fish or pan fish, is an American English term describing any edible freshwater fish that usually do not outgrow the size of an average frying pan. It is also commonly used by recreational anglers to refer to any ...

es, and large numbers are bred and stocked in

lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...

pond A pond is an area filled with water, either natural or artificial, that is smaller than a lake. Defining them to be less than in area, less than deep, and with less than 30% emergent vegetation helps in distinguishing their ecology from th ...

s and

wetland A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The ...

s. They are widely distributed throughout the

freshwater Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. Although the term specifically excludes seawater and brackish water, it does include ...

lakes and river tributaries of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, and several species have been translocated and flourished around the world, even becoming

pests PESTS was an anonymous American activist group formed in 1986 to critique racism, tokenism, and exclusion in the art world. PESTS produced newsletters, posters, and other print material highlighting examples of discrimination in gallery represent ...

. Aquarium trade in some ''Lepomis'' species is prohibited in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

for this reason. ''Lepomis'' species, among others, are sometimes referred to as

bream Bream ( ) are species of freshwater and marine fish belonging to a variety of genera including ''Abramis'' (e.g., ''A. brama'', the common bream), ''Acanthopagrus'', '' Argyrops'', ''Blicca'', '' Brama'', ''Chilotilapia'', '' Etelis'', ''Lepo ...

, but the term is also used to refer explicitly to the unrelated

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

cypriniform Cypriniformes is an order of ray-finned fish, including the carps, minnows, loaches, and relatives. Cypriniformes is an Order within the Superorder Ostariophysi consisting of "Carp-like" Ostariophysins. This order contains 11-12 families, ...

fish of genus ''

Abramis The common bream, freshwater bream, bream, bronze bream, carp bream or sweaty bream (''Abramis brama''), is a European species of freshwater fish in the family Cyprinidae. It is now considered to be the only species in the genus ''Abramis''. ...

''.

Phylogeny

Phylogeny of all ''Lepomis'' species based on a partitioned mixed-model Bayesian analysis of a seven gene dataset of mitochondrial and nuclear gene DNA sequences by Near et al. (2005), expanded with fossil species. Subgenera in bold follow Bailey (1938): ^*) ''L. peltastes'' was not originally included in the analysis by Near et al. (2005) and is included here based on commonly accepted sister relationship to ''L. megalotis''. ^**) See section 'Evolutionary History' below for explanation. ^***) Phylogenetic position in clade II uncertain. See section 'Fossil record' for clarification.

Evolutionary history

Phylogenetic reconstructions using a combination of nuclear and mitochondrial DNA sequences calibrated with fossils to estimate ages of divergences suggests that the genus ''Lepomis'' diverged from the black bass in genus ''

Micropterus ''Micropterus'' is a genus of North American freshwater fish collectively known as the black bass, belonging to the sunfish family (biology), family Centrarchidae of order (biology), order Perciformes. They are sometimes erroneously called "bla ...

'', its sister taxon, about 25 million years ago. The deepest split among currently living species of ''Lepomis'' is dated to ~15 million years ago and separates genus ''Lepomis'' into two

clades A clade (), also known as a monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that are monophyletic – that is, composed of a common ancestor and all its lineal descendants – on a phylogenetic tree. Rather than the English term, t ...

: clade I that leads to the modern bluegill, orange-spotted, green, and warmouth sunfish, and a clade II that includes the modern long-ear, red-breasted, pumpkinseed, redear, and red-spotted sunfish (see section 'Phylogeny' above). The timing of this speciation event roughly corresponds with the

Middle Miocene disruption The term Middle Miocene disruption, alternatively the Middle Miocene extinction or Middle Miocene extinction peak, refers to a wave of extinctions of terrestrial and aquatic life forms that occurred around the middle of the Miocene, roughly 14 mill ...

that resulted in increased aridity on the plains of North America and a transition from savannah to grasslands, although the relevance of these environmental changes to the evolution of ''Lepomis'' is unclear.

Fossil record

No fossils unambiguously assigned to genus ''Lepomis'' are currently known from the putative stem-lineage that must have existed between 25-15 million years ago, spanning most of the

early Miocene The Early Miocene (also known as Lower Miocene) is a sub-epoch of the Miocene Epoch made up of two stages: the Aquitanian and Burdigalian stages. The sub-epoch lasted from 23.03 ± 0.05 Ma to 15.97 ± 0.05 Ma (million years ago). It was prece ...

. Currently, four extinct species of ''Lepomis'' are known from the fossil record: There are at least two as yet undescribed fossil species of ''Lepomis'' that reach back to the

middle Miocene The Middle Miocene is a sub-epoch of the Miocene Epoch made up of two stages: the Langhian and Serravallian stages. The Middle Miocene is preceded by the Early Miocene. The sub-epoch lasted from 15.97 ± 0.05 Ma to 11.608 ± 0.005 Ma (million y ...

: * ''Lepomis'' sp. A consists of fragmentary fossils of its lower jaw from Nebraska, dated to 13.5 million years ago, and shows morphological similarities to the modern ''Lepomis microlophus'', although its great age means that this species predates the divergence of any of the living species. * ''Lepomis'' sp. B was found in deposits in Kansas, dated to 12 million years ago.

Two other more recent fossil species appear to be closely allied to ''Lepomis gulosus'', and indeed their earliest occurrence may be close to the divergence of the lineage leading to the modern warmouth from other species of ''Lepomis'': * ''Lepomis kansasensis'' lived 6.6 million years ago, and had

pterygoid Pterygoid, from the Greek for 'winglike', may refer to: * Pterygoid bone, a bone of the palate of many vertebrates * Pterygoid processes of the sphenoid bone ** Lateral pterygoid plate ** Medial pterygoid plate * Lateral pterygoid muscle * Medial ...

teeth, indicating a close relationship to the warmouth. * ''Lepomis serratus'' is known from 3.4 to 2.0 million year old deposits in Nebraska, and also appears to be closely related to or ancestral to the warmouth on the basis of its

preopercle The operculum is a series of bones found in bony fish and chimaeras that serves as a facial support structure and a protective covering for the gills; it is also used for respiration and feeding. Anatomy The opercular series contains four bon ...

Species

There are currently 13 recognized species in this genus: * ''

Lepomis auritus The redbreast sunfish (''Lepomis auritus'') is a species of freshwater fish in the sunfish family (biology), family (family Centrarchidae) of order (biology), order Perciformes. The type species of its genus, it is native to the river systems of ...

'' (

Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the ...

, 1758) (redbreast sunfish) * ''

Lepomis cyanellus The green sunfish (''Lepomis cyanellus'') is a species of freshwater fish in the sunfish family (Centrarchidae) of order Perciformes. A panfish popular with anglers, the green sunfish is also kept as an aquarium fish by hobbyists. They are us ...

'' (

Rafinesque Constantine Samuel Rafinesque-Schmaltz (; October 22, 1783September 18, 1840) was a French 19th-century polymath born near Constantinople in the Ottoman Empire and self-educated in France. He traveled as a young man in the United States, ultimat ...

, 1819) (green sunfish) * ''

Lepomis gibbosus The pumpkinseed (''Lepomis gibbosus''), also referred to as pond perch, common sunfish, punkie, sunfish, sunny, and kivver, is a small/medium-sized North American freshwater fish of the genus ''Lepomis'' (true sunfishes), from family Centrarchi ...

'' (

, 1758) (pumpkinseed) * '' Lepomis gulosus'' (

G. Cuvier Jean Léopold Nicolas Frédéric, Baron Cuvier (; 23 August 1769 – 13 May 1832), known as Georges Cuvier, was a French naturalist and zoologist, sometimes referred to as the "founding father of paleontology". Cuvier was a major figure in nat ...

, 1829) (warmouth) * '' Lepomis humilis'' ( Girard, 1858) (orangespotted sunfish) * ''

Lepomis macrochirus The bluegill (''Lepomis macrochirus''), sometimes referred to as "bream", "brim", "sunny", or "copper nose" as is common in Texas, is a species of North American freshwater fish, native to and commonly found in streams, rivers, lakes, ponds and ...

'' (

, 1819) (bluegill) * '' Lepomis marginatus'' (

Holbrook Holbrook may refer to: Places England *Holbrook, Derbyshire, a village *Holbrook, Somerset, a hamlet in Charlton Musgrove *Holbrook, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, a former mining village in Mosborough ward, now known as Halfway *Holbrook, Suffolk, a ...

, 1855) (dollar sunfish) * '' Lepomis megalotis'' (

, 1820) (longear sunfish) * '' Lepomis microlophus'' ( Günther, 1859) (redear sunfish) * '' Lepomis miniatus'' ( D. S. Jordan, 1877) (redspotted sunfish) * ''

Lepomis peltastes The northern sunfish (''Lepomis peltastes'') is a species of North American freshwater fish in the sunfish family (Centrarchidae) of order Perciformes. ''Lepomis peltastes'' was traditionally recognized as a subspecies of longear sunfish (''Lepom ...

'' (

Cope The cope (known in Latin as ''pluviale'' 'rain coat' or ''cappa'' 'cape') is a liturgical vestment, more precisely a long mantle or cloak, open in front and fastened at the breast with a band or clasp. It may be of any liturgical colours, litu ...

, 1870) (northern sunfish) * '' Lepomis punctatus'' (

Valenciennes Valenciennes (, also , , ; nl, label=also Dutch, Valencijn; pcd, Valincyinnes or ; la, Valentianae) is a commune in the Nord department, Hauts-de-France, France. It lies on the Scheldt () river. Although the city and region experienced a s ...

, 1831) (spotted sunfish) * '' Lepomis symmetricus'' ( S. A. Forbes, 1883) (bantam sunfish) There are also 22 recognized hybrids: * ''Lepomis macrochirus'' × ''cyanellus'' (greengill sunfish) * ''Lepomis macrochirus x microlophus'' (gillcracker) *''Lepomis cyanellus x gibbosus'' (pumpgreen sunfish) *''Lepomis cyanellus x gulosus'' (green sunfish x warmouth) *''Lepomis gulosus x macrochirus'' (warmouth x bluegill) *''Lepomis macrochirus x megalotis'' (bluegill x longear sunfish) * ''Lepomis gibbosus x macrochirus'' (pumpkingill) *''Lepomis auritus x cyanellus'' (redbreast x green sunfish) *''Lepomis microlophus x cyanellus'' (redear x green sunfish) *''Lepomis auritus x microlophus'' (redbreast x redear sunfish) *''Lepomis macrochirus x punctatus'' (bluegill x spotted sunfish) *''Lepomis gibbosus x peltastes'' (pumpkinseed x Northern sunfish) *''Lepomis megalotis x cyanellus'' (longear x green sunfish) *''Lepomis miniatus x punctatus'' (redspotted x spotted sunfish)

References

External links

{{Taxonbar, from=Q251730 Lepominae Taxa named by Constantine Samuel Rafinesque Extant Miocene first appearances