Redear sunfish

VanderKooy et al. (2000) observed that large L. microlophus predominantly focus on hard-shelled prey such as ostracods, hydrobiid snails and mussels throughout the entire year.In the same field investigation, it was observed that smaller fish tended to also consume zooplankton, amphipods, chironomid and ceratopongonid larvae and cladocerans, with varied distributions depending on the season.[citation needed] The specialization of this species for the deep-water, mollusk-feeding niche allows it to be introduced to lakes without the risk of competition with fish that prefer shallower water or surface-feeding.In recent years, the stocking of redear has found new allies due to the fish's ability to eat quagga mussels, a prominent invasive species in many freshwater drainages.[11] The redear sunfish is the first-known species of Centrarchidae based on fossil records, as old as 16.3 million years, dating back to the Middle Miocene.
A redear sunfish captured in Montgomery County, Texas , USA.
Illustration of the redear sunfish, Lepomis microlophus
Male redear sunfish guarding eggs
Middle MioceneConservation statusLeast ConcernIUCN 3.1Scientific classificationEukaryotaAnimaliaChordataActinopterygiiCentrarchiformesCentrarchidaeLepomisBinomial nameGüntherSynonymsfreshwater fishUnited Statessport fishintroducedNorth AmericaMontgomery County, TexasbluegilloperculumnativeNorth CarolinaFloridaIllinoisMissouriRio GrandeArizonaostracodshydrobiidzooplanktonamphipodschironomidceratopongonidcladoceranscopepodalarvaeephemeropteranodonatacrayfishpharyngeal teethexoskeletonsquagga musselsinvasive specieshybridizefossil recordspanfishrecreational anglersLake HavasuIUCN Red List of Threatened SpeciesFroese, RainerFishBaseAnimal Diversity WebLas Vegas SunWikidataWikispeciesiNaturalistNatureServeOpen Tree of LifePaleobiology Database