Pumpkinseed

Description:

Pumpkinseed sunfish are a very colorful, deep-bodied, slab-sided fish with a small mouth. They have a orange to yellow belly and many small brown to orange spots scattered over their sides. They also have many spots on their dorsal fin, and much like longear and green sunfish they have wavy blue lines on their cheek. The ear flap or opercle is black with a distinctive red-orange spot at the rear edge. The opercle flap is also very short compared to that of a longear sunfish. Pumpkinseed sunfish are nest spawners with the male digging the nest in water as shallow as 6 to 12 inches. Spawning occurs in May or June and the males guard the nest until the eggs hatch. The female will lay between 1,600 to 2,900 eggs. Several females may lay eggs in a single nest. Pumpkinseed sunfish are usually the first Lepomis sunfish species to spawn in the spring. Pumpkinseeds feed on a variety of small food both at the surface of the water and at the bottom. Among their favorites are insects, mosquito larva, small mollusks and other crustaceans, worms, minnow fry and even other smaller pumpkinseeds. Occasionally they will feed on small pieces of vegetation as well. Pumpkinseed sunfish have a terminal mouth, allowing it to open at the anterior end of the snout.

Habitat:

Pumpkinseeds typically live in warm, calm lakes, ponds and pools of creeks and small rivers with plenty of vegetation. They prefer clear water where they can find shelter to hide. They tend to stay near the shore and can be found in numbers within shallow and protected areas.