Lepomis gibbosus
Collection Details
Specimens
Photos
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Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Perciformes (Perciformes, Also Called the Acanthopteri)
Centrarchidae (Sunfishes)
Lepomis
Lepomis gibbosus (Pumpkinseed)
Description
This species account was compiled from
FishBase (Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2025. FishBase. World Wide Web electronic publication. www.fishbase.org, version 04/2025.)
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Characters
Body shape: short and / or deep.
Distribution
North America: New Brunswick in Canada south to Savannah River in Georgia, USA; Great Lakes, Hudson Bay (Red River), and upper Mississippi River basins from Quebec west to southeastern Manitoba and North Dakota, and south to north Kentucky and Missouri, USA. Introduced to Pacific drainages from British Columbia to California. Several countries report adverse ecological impact after introduction.
Habitat Associations
Freshwater, brackish. benthopelagic. depth range 0-41 m. Found in: streams, lakes, estuaries.
Biology
Inhabits vegetated lakes and ponds, as well as quiet pools of creeks and small rivers (Ref. 86798). Feeds on small fishes and other vertebrates (Ref. 1998), as well as fish eggs (Ref. 2058). Adtults rarely form schools but occur in pairs or loose aggregations of three to four individuals; young individuals aggregate in fairly large schools (Ref. 120693). An introduced species in Europe which avoids swift waters and occurs in estuaries with a salinity up to 18.2 ppt (Ref. 59043). Reported in Europe to prey on a wide variety of invertebrates (Ref. 59043). Considered undesirable catch (Ref. 30578).
Max length: 40.0 cm TL; common length: 9.9 cm TL; max weight: 630 g; max age: 12 years.
Reproductive mode: dioecism; fertilization: external; guarders (nesters); parental care: paternal. Males build the nest on very shallow waters near the shore. The pair then swims in a circular path over the nest and eggs and sperm is released in intervals. The male guards the eggs for about 7 days (Ref. 93240) and the young (to about 11 days after hatching), then prepares the nest for another spawning with the same or different females (Ref. 1998). In European waters, each male may spawn with several females in one nest and guard the nest until abandoned by larvae (Ref. 59043). Produces up to 1000 eggs (Ref. 1672).
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2012-03-01. Resilience: Medium (tm=2; Fec=600-5000).
Commercial or Environmental Importance
Fisheries: subsistence fisheries; gamefish; aquarium: commercial.
References
Scott, W.B. and E.J. Crossman (1973) Freshwater fishes of Canada. Bull. Fish. Res. Board Can. 184: xi+1-966.
Spillman, C.-J. (1961) Faune de France: Poissons d'eau douce. Fédération Française des Sociétés Naturelles,Tome 65. Paris. 303 p.
Maitland, P.S. and R.N. Campbell (1992) Freshwater fishes of the British Isles. HarperCollins Publishers, London.368 p.
Keast, A. and L. Walsh (1968) Daily feeding periodicities, food uptake rates, and dietary changes with hour of day in some lake fishes. J. Fish. Res. Board Can. 25(6):1133-1144.
Keith, P. and J. Allardi (coords.) (2001) Atlas des poissons d'eau douce de France. Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, Paris. Patrimoines naturels, 47:1-387.
Page, L.M. and B.M. Burr (2011) A field guide to freshwater fishes of North America north of Mexico. Boston : Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 663p.
Teletchea, F., A. Fostier, E. Kamler, J-N. Gardeur, P-Y. Le Bail, B. Jalabert and P. Fontaine (2009) Comparative analysis of reproductive traits in 65 freshwater fish species: application to the domestication of new fish species. Rev. Fish Biol. Fish. 19:403-430.
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