Longear Sunfish
(Lepomis megalotis)
Identifying Characteristics
Like other sunfish, the longear sunfish has a body shape that is laterally compressed. This means that it has a deep body that is flattened from side to side. Adults can grow to a maximum length of 9.5 inches and to about 1.5 lbs in weight. As the the name might suggest, the longear sunfish has an elongated flap of skin that extends behind the gils, which is called the opercle flap. This is shown in the picture to the upper right, as well as its bright coloring of orange with blue-green coloration around the head and back. As you can see from the pictures on this page, the longear sunfish is very colorful with a olive to brown back, orange belly, and blue-green bars radiating from the head. The dorsal fin of the longear sunfish has two lobes. The front lobe is made up of 10 spines. The back lobe consists of 10-12 fin rays. The anal fin is also separated into a spine portion and ray portion. You can find 3 spines at the front of the anal fin, and this is followed by 9-11 rays. Longears are often confused with Bluegills (Lepomis macrochirus). Below are images of preserved specimens that nicely show off some of the major differences. As you can see, the earflap behind the eye is much larger on the longear. Also the pectoral fins of the longear are short and rounded, while the bluegill's are long and pointed. Finally, the bluegill has a prominent dark spot at the rear of the dorsal fin. |
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Life History
Longear sunfish males provide all parental care for their young. In the spring and early summer, groups of males will build nests, either out of gravel, sand or mud, and court females in order to get them to lay their eggs. Females will lay anywhere between around 200 to almost 3000 eggs within a reproductive season. Males will then guard their nests until the eggs have hatched. Longear sunfish take 2-3 years to reach sexual maturity, and then will live to 6 years on average. |
Here is a great video that shows a variety of longear sunfish behaviors such as nest guarding, spawning and foraging.
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Geographic Range
The longear sunfish is a fish native to a wide range within North America. They can be found as far north as the Great Lakes, and as far south as northeastern Mexico. This fish is generally restricted to large streams. The longear sunfish tries to avoid strong currents and silt, instead preferring heavily weeded areas with sandy or gravelly bottoms. To the left is a picture showing the geographic distribution of the fish in the United States. |
Diet
The longear sunfish is a benthopelagic fish. A benthopelagic fish is one that lives and feeds near the bottom of bodies of water, but will also feed in the surface and middle depths. In fact, longear sunfish forage near the surface of the water more than most other sunfish. The longear sunfish could be considered an opportunistic feeder, feeding on free swimming easily caught prey, such as small insects, small invertebrates, and small fish in adulthood.
The longear sunfish is a benthopelagic fish. A benthopelagic fish is one that lives and feeds near the bottom of bodies of water, but will also feed in the surface and middle depths. In fact, longear sunfish forage near the surface of the water more than most other sunfish. The longear sunfish could be considered an opportunistic feeder, feeding on free swimming easily caught prey, such as small insects, small invertebrates, and small fish in adulthood.
Additional Biological Traits
- The longear sunfish inhabits shallow vegetated areas in ponds, lakes, and slow moving water within rivers and streams.
- The longear sunfish enjoys areas with vegetation or structure in order to keep sheltered from predators.
- The longear sunfish has a number of predators it needs to watch out for, such as largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, and different species of wading birds. Due to the fact that the longear sunfish preys upon a wide range of food sources and has a number of natural predators, it is an important link in the food chain.
Conservation Status
The longear sunfish is not designated as a threatened species. However, longear sunfish do not do well in cloudy and murky water, and so we need to be careful to limit the impact of pollution and erosion on their native habitats so that these beautiful fish do not become a conservation concern in the future. Watching what you pour down your drains and limiting the use of pesticides in your yards can help limit water pollution. Landscaping areas near waterways can help limit water murkiness caused by erosion.
Our IB 463 class regularly finds a number of small longear sunfish in the Boneyard Creek. This might be indicative that, though the stream might experience a lot of nonpoint source pollution, it is still relatively habitable for these and other native fish species. Since the longear sunfish feeds on other mobile organisms, this means that the Boneyard Creek provides a decent habitat for small free swimming insects and invertebrates, and small prey fish to support the sunfish population. Hopefully our continued efforts to clean up Boneyard Creek will mean that the longear sunfish will thrive in Champaign-Urbana for years to come!
The longear sunfish is not designated as a threatened species. However, longear sunfish do not do well in cloudy and murky water, and so we need to be careful to limit the impact of pollution and erosion on their native habitats so that these beautiful fish do not become a conservation concern in the future. Watching what you pour down your drains and limiting the use of pesticides in your yards can help limit water pollution. Landscaping areas near waterways can help limit water murkiness caused by erosion.
Our IB 463 class regularly finds a number of small longear sunfish in the Boneyard Creek. This might be indicative that, though the stream might experience a lot of nonpoint source pollution, it is still relatively habitable for these and other native fish species. Since the longear sunfish feeds on other mobile organisms, this means that the Boneyard Creek provides a decent habitat for small free swimming insects and invertebrates, and small prey fish to support the sunfish population. Hopefully our continued efforts to clean up Boneyard Creek will mean that the longear sunfish will thrive in Champaign-Urbana for years to come!
References
Lepomis megalotis (Rafinesque, 1820) Longear sunfish. FishBase. Retrieved September 17, 2012.
URL: http://www.fishbase.org/summary/Lepomis-megalotis.html
Longear Sunfish (Lepomis megalotis). Texas Parks & Wildlife. Retrieved September 17, 2012.
URL: http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/huntwild/wild/species/longearsunfish/
Longear Sunfish. Fishes of Wisconsin. Retrieved October 22, 2014.
URL: http://infotrek.er.usgs.gov/wdnr_fishes/account.jsp?species_param=1464
Lepomis megalotis (Rafinesque, 1820) Longear sunfish. FishBase. Retrieved September 17, 2012.
URL: http://www.fishbase.org/summary/Lepomis-megalotis.html
Longear Sunfish (Lepomis megalotis). Texas Parks & Wildlife. Retrieved September 17, 2012.
URL: http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/huntwild/wild/species/longearsunfish/
Longear Sunfish. Fishes of Wisconsin. Retrieved October 22, 2014.
URL: http://infotrek.er.usgs.gov/wdnr_fishes/account.jsp?species_param=1464