Redear sunfish
species of fish
The redear sunfish (Lepomis microlophus), also known as the shellcracker, Georgia bream, cherry gill, chinquapin, stumpknocker, and sun perch, is a freshwater fish in the family Centrarchidae and is native to the southeastern United States. Due to its popularity as a sport fish, it has been widely introduced across North America.
Description
Redear sunfish generally resemble bluegill except for coloration and somewhat larger maximum size. The redear sunfish also has faint vertical bars traveling downwards from its dorsal. It is dark-colored dorsally and yellow-green ventrally. Unlike bluegill, the male has a cherry-red edge on its operculum; females have orange coloration in this area. The adult fish are between 20 and 24 cm (7.9 and 9.4 in) in length. Max length is 43.2 cm (17.0 in), compared to a maximum of about 40 cm (16 in) for the bluegill. Redear sunfish on average reach about 0.45 kg (0.99 lb), also larger than the average bluegill.
Habitat and range
Redear sunfish are native to the southeastern United States.
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This entry incorporates text from “Redear sunfish” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.