Species: Lepomis macrochirus

Bluegill

Species

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Encyclopedia of Puget Sound

Body is deep and strongly compressed from side to side. Anal fin has 3 spines. Tail fin is shallowly forked. Spiny front part and soft rear part of dorsal fin are united. Rear part of dorsal fin has a large black spot (faint in young). Often there is a dusky spot at the rear of the anal fin. The sides have dar bars (except in turbid water) that may be thin and chainlike on young bluegill. Pectoral fin is long and pointed. Ear flap is black all the way to the edge. Sides and back are olive with yellow and green flecks. Breeding males have a blue head and back and a bright red-orange breast and belly. Maximum length is around 16.2 inches (41 cm).

Classification

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Craniata

Class

Actinopterygii

Order

Perciformes

Family

Centrarchidae

Genus

Lepomis

NatureServe

Source:
ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.101764

Classification

Informal Taxonomy

Animals, Vertebrates - Fishes - Bony Fishes - Sunfishes and Freshwater Basses

Formal Taxonomy

Animalia - Craniata - Actinopterygii - Perciformes - Centrarchidae - Lepomis - Reported to hybridize with LEPOMIS CYANELLUS, L. GULOSUS, and L. MEGALOTIS. Though the gender of the name LEPOMIS is feminine (see Bailey and Robins, 1988, Bull. Zool. Nomencl. 45(2):100), the 1991 AFS checklist (Robins et al. 1991) retained the masculine ending for MACROCHIRUS and other species, pending a vote by the ICZN on a petition (by Etnier and Warren) to treat LEPOMIS as masculine for nomenclatural purposes. Three subspecies have been recognized, but stocking programs have mixed populations, and subspecies may no longer be recognizable (Page and Burr 1991, Lee et al. 1980).

Ecology and Life History

Habitat Type Description

Freshwater

Migration

true - false - false

Non-migrant

true

Locally Migrant

false

Food Comments

Feeds opportunistically on aquatic insect larvae, planktonic crustaceans, flying insects, snails, and other small invertebrates; small fishes, fish eggs, crayfish, and algae sometimes are eaten. Larvae and juveniles often eat cladocerans and copepod nauplii. Adults eats mainly aquatic insects, crayfishes, and small fishes, or, in some bodies of water, mostly zooplankton. Feeds at all levels of water column.

Reproduction Comments

Spawning occurs over an often extended period in spring and summer. Eggs hatch in about 2-3 days. Males guard the eggs and hatchlings. Spawners may be 1 year old, but usually are 2-3 years old. Bluegill often spawn in colonies that may include dozens of crowded craterlike or saucer-shaped nests.

Ecology Comments

Populations of stunted individuals often occur in closed pond systems with no emigration pathway.

Length

Conservation Status

NatureServe Global Status Rank

Global Status Last Reviewed

1996-09-23

Global Status Last Changed

1996-09-23

Distribution

Conservation Status Map

Global Range

This species is native to the St. Lawrence-Great Lakes and Mississippi River basins from Quebec and New York to Minnesota and south to the Gulf of Mexico; also Atlantic and Gulf Slope drainages from the Cape Fear River, Virginia, to the Rio Grande, Texas and New Mexico; also northern Mexico (Page and Burr 1991). It has been introduced throughout North America and in many other parts of the world.

ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.101764