Green Sunfish, Lepomis cyanellus
Green Sunfish, Lepomis cyanellus. Fish caught from the Buffalo River in Arkansas. June 2015. Length: 15.2 cm (6.0 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of Ben Cantrell, San Diego, California.
Green Sunfish, Lepomis cyanellus. Fish caught from the Buffalo River in Arkansas. June 2015. Length: 15.2 cm (6.0 inches). Catch, photograph, and identification courtesy of Josh Leisen (joshadventures.com), Gaylord, Michigan.
Green Sunfish, Lepomis cyanellus. Fish caught from a golf course like in Klamath Falls, Oregon, July 2020. Length: 15.2 cm (6.0 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of Luke Ovgard, Klamath Falls, Oregon.
Green Sunfish, Lepomis cyanellus. Fish caught from the Wappapello Spillway, within the Wappapello Lake’s Spillway Recreational Area of the St. Francis River, near Wappapello Dam, Missouri, May 2015. Length: 24 cm (8.7 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of Ryan Crutchfield, Tampa, Florida.
Green Sunfish, Lepomis cyanellus. Fish caught from Willow Springs Lake, Payson, Arizona, June 2018. Length: 20 cm (9.4 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of Chris Moore, Peoria, Arizona.
The Green Sunfish, Lepomis cyanellus, is a member of the Sunfish or Centrarchidae Family, and is known in Mexico as pez sol. Globally, there are thirteen species in the genus Lepomis, of which seven are found in the streams, rivers, lakes, and ponds of Mexico’s freshwater systems.
The Green Sunfish has a heavy bass-like body that is strongly compressed laterally with a depth that is 38% to 42% of standard length. They are blue-green dorsally, transitioning to yellow and white ventrally. They have 7 to 12 faint vertical bars on their sides and some of the scales have turquoise spots. Their cheeks are randomly spotted and streaked with bluish green. They have a dark spot at the base of the anal fin, near the rear of the dorsal fins and on the elongated ear plate. The anal, caudal and dorsal fins have a yellowish-white border. The fin membranes are dusky with scattered light spots. The males are more colorful than the females. Dominant fish are lighter in color. Females have dusky colored bars on the dorsolateral portion of their bodies. Breeding males normally have an orange tint to the anal, caudal, pelvic, and posterior dorsal fins and vivid black, orange, and white colors on their anal fins. The juveniles are less colorful than the adults, allowing them to blend into the vegetation for protection against predation. Their head has a long snout and a large terminal oblique mouth that extends to the middle of the eyes and is equipped with palatine teeth. Their anal fin has 3 spines and 9 or 10 rays; their caudal fin has equal lobes; their first dorsal fin has 6 to 13 spines; their second dorsal fin has 10 or 11 rays; and, their pectoral fins have 13 or 14 rays and are short and rounded. They have 11 to 14 long gill rakers. They are covered with ctenoid scales.
The Green Sunfish is found in heavily vegetated sluggish backwaters, lakes, and ponds with gravel, sand, or bedrock bottoms as well as in very muddy waters as they are able to tolerate poor water conditions. They spend their time hiding around rocks, submerged logs, plants, and other things that provide cover. They reach a maximum of 30.5 cm (12 inches) in length and 0.97 kg (2 lbs 2 oz) in weight with males being larger than females. As of January 1, 2024, the International Game Fish Association world record stood at 0.96 kg (2 lbs 2 oz), with the fish caught from Stockton Lake, Missouri in 1971. They prefer water temperatures between 26oC (79oF) and 31oC (88oF). They are opportunistic feeders that are active diurnally and normally found as solitary individuals or in loose aggregations that feed on crayfish, aquatic insects, terrestrial insects, fish, larvae, snails, and zooplankton. They in turn, are preyed upon by Bullhead Catfish, Channel Catfish, Flathead Catfish and Largemouth Bass. Reproduction is oviparous and polygynandrous (promiscuous) and occurs continually when water temperatures are in excess of 21oC (70oF). During this period, males become highly territorial and very aggressive. They build highly visible nests in very shallow sand or gravel substrates. Each female, based on size, will deposit into the nest, between 2,000 and 26,000 eggs that are adhesive and attach to the substrate. Fertilization is external and males remain on the nest for 3 to 5 days until the eggs hatch. The young may remain schooled up on the nest for a few days before scattering. Males will then try to attract another female to his nest. Young fish feed on plankton, but as they grow, their diet shifts to aquatic insects and insect larvae. They have lifespans of between 4 and 6 years in the wild.
The Green Sunfish can be easily confused with a series of other sunfish. Including the Bluegill, Lepomis macrochirus, the Longear Sunfish, Lepomis megalotis, and the Warmouth, Lepomis gulosus, but in comparison they have wider bodies and a much larger mouth. The Green Sunfish also crossbreeds with the Bluegill and the Longear Sunfish, producing other fish that are hard to identify.
The Green Sunfish is a native to eastern North America and can be found in the majority of rivers that drain into the Atlantic Ocean. They have been widely introduced throughout the United States. In Mexico they are currently found in the freshwater systems of Baja California, Sonora, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Durango and Jalisco. Being highly invasive, sooner than later they will be found in all freshwater systems of Mexico.
From a conservation perspective the Green Sunfish is currently considered to be of Least Concern with stable, widely distributed populations. They are known to be a highly invasive pest causing overcrowded conditions and destroying native populations and aquatic organisms. They are not a popular recreational angler foe other than with the flyrod crowd and for their size do put up a strong battle. They are also considered to be a marginal human food fish because of their small size. They are utilized by the aquarium trade at a modest level.