| Elassoma evergladei | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Perciformes |
| Family: | Centrarchidae |
| Genus: | Elassoma |
| Species: | E. evergladei |
| Binomial name | |
| Elassoma evergladei | |
Elassoma evergladei, or the Everglades pygmy sunfish, is a species of fish from the genus Elassoma (the pygmy sunfishes) that is endemic to North America. [3]
The fish can grow to a maximum length of 3.4 cm (in total length), and it generally grows to 2.3 cm (TL). [2] [4] Scales are present at the top of its head. [4] [5] Its mouth is both small and oblique. [4] [6] The fish does not have a lateral line. [4] A crescent-shaped area behind each eye may be gold or iridescent blue. [4] It has dark lips. [4] Egg count in the ovaries of females in captivity ranged from 115 to 500, increasing with the fish's size. [4]
The fish has variable color and form. [6] [7] Its body is generally colored brown with darker spots. [6] The fish has several rows of dark red spots on its dorsal and anal fins. [6] "Nonbreeding" fish may have light streaks, mottling, or blotches. [4] Females of the species in general are colored brown on their backs with mottled brown and cream/white coloring underneath, [4] or they may be reddish brown. [5] The females have no markings. [5] "Breeding" males are colored black with iridescent blue spots. [4] Males have black fins with or without brown spots. [5] Male bodies may be black, brown, or dark green with blotches or spots. [5] A few indistinct dark bars may be present on the male body. [5] Males may have brassy or blue-green iridescent scales scattered across their bodies. [5]
According to one source, males are dark black and have iridescent blue flecks, [8] and females have a brown coloration. [8]
The Everyglades pygmy sunfish can be found in the United States from the end of Cape Fear River, North Carolina to Mobile Bay, Alabama. [2] [5] [9] It may also be found from the south of Florida to the northern end of the Everglades. [2] [4] The fish has been found more often in the natural marshes rather than the constructed marshes of central Florida. [2]
The fish lives in freshwater and demersal habitats at a pH range of 7.0 to 7.5 and a temperature range of 10 to 30 degrees Celsius. [2] They reside in swamps, sphagnum bogs, sloughs with heavy vegetation, canals, overflow pools, ponds, lakes, and streams; generally over mud, silt, sand, limestone, or detritus. [2] [4] [5] They exist in such areas where the current is slow and water levels fluctuate. [2] They prefer shallow areas as well as areas of vegetation. [8] The species tends to stay restricted to black water environments more than other species of the genus. [2]
The species' population density is highly dependent on environmental conditions. [4] However, the fish is considered common in most of its range and its overall population (estimated at 100,000 as of 2013) is large and stable. [1]
The Everglades pygmy sunfish tends to live alone. [4] As an invertivore, the fish preys on worms and other crustaceans in its habitat. [2] [4] Prey include cladocerans, dipteran larvae, annelids, chironomids, copepods, ostracods, [4] and newly hatched snails. [8] Where food is centrally located, males will establish territories with closer proximity to the center based on dominance. [5] In environments of evenly distributed food, males will range freely and will not establish territories. [5]
Like many other fish species, Elassoma evergladei is oviparous. [2] A female may lay 40 to 60 eggs, and a male will guard the eggs. [2] Eggs are laid in aquatic plants, especially in those from the genus Ceratophyllum . [1] [2]
In captivity, males will establish their territory in feeding areas. [4]
The fish is sold commercially for aquariums. [1] [2] One author considers it "the best-known member of the group [pygmy sunfishes] in the aquarium hobby." [5]
In 2013, the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species named the species Least Concern because of its "large extent of occurrence, large number of subpopulations, large population size, apparently stable trend, and lack of major threats." [1]
Elassoma refers to the Greek words elasson, for "smaller", and soma, for "body". [2] [4] Evergladei means "of the Everglades", [4] [6] named for the location the type specimens were captured. [4] David Starr Jordan first described the species in 1884, [2] and his original specimens measured one inch in length. [7] One 1918 publication mentioned the species' common name as the "southern pygmy sunfish". [7]
Centrarchidae, better known as sunfishes, is a family of freshwater ray-finned fish belonging to the order Perciformes, native only to North America. There are eight universally included genera within the centrarchid family: Lepomis, Micropterus, Pomoxis (crappies), Enneacanthus, Centrarchus, Archoplites, Ambloplites, and Acantharchus. A genetic study in 2012 suggests that the highly distinct pygmy sunfishes of the genus Elassoma are also centarchids.
The pumpkinseed, also referred to as pond perch, common sunfish, punkie, sunfish, sunny, and kivver, is a small/medium-sized North American freshwater fish of the genus Lepomis, from family Centrarchidae in the order Perciformes.
Elassoma is a genus of freshwater fish, the only member of subfamily Elassomatinae of the sunfish family Centrarchidae in the order Perciformes. It is sometimes classified as a separate family, the Elassomatidae, in a monotypic suborder, Elassomatoidei, in Perciformes. The type species is E. zonatum, the banded pygmy sunfish. The Elassomatinae are known collectively as pygmy sunfishes, but are considered by some authorities not to be true sunfishes, which are members of family Centrarchidae. Some researchers believe they are related to sticklebacks and pipefishes rather than Perciformes, though genetic research strongly implies a close relationship with the centrarchids. Currently the Integrated Taxonomic Information System classifies them in the family Elassomatidae rather than Centrarchidae.
The rock bass, also known as the rock perch, goggle-eye, red eye, and black perch, is a freshwater fish native to east-central North America. This red-eyed creature is a species of freshwater fish in the sunfish family (Centrarchidae) of order Perciformes and can be distinguished from other similar species by the six spines in the anal fin.
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The pygmy gourami, also known as the sparkling gourami, is a freshwater species of gourami native to Southeast Asia.
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The banded pygmy sunfish, Elassoma zonatum, is a species of pygmy sunfish endemic to the United States, where it is found from Indiana and Illinois to Texas to the Atlantic coast. It prefers densely vegetated bodies of slow-moving water. This species can reach 4.7 cm (1.9 in) in total length, though most do not exceed 3.5 cm (1.4 in).
The spotted sunfish, also known as a stumpknocker, is a member of the freshwater sunfish family Centrarchidae and order perciformes. The redspotted sunfish, redear sunfish and pumpkinseed sunfish are its closest relatives. Lepomis punctatus is olive-green to brown in color with black to reddish spots at the base of each scale that form rows of dots on the side. The scientific name punctatus refers to this spotted pattern. It was first described in 1831 by Valenciennes.
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The blackbanded sunfish is a freshwater fish species of the sunfish family (Centrarchidae). They are found in the United States ranging from New Jersey to central Florida.> The defining feature of this Black-banded sunfish is the black vertical strips that it has on both sides of its body. The term "Enneacanthus" comes from the Greek terms ennea, which means "nine times", and acanthi, which means "thorn". It is in a genus that consists of only three species along with the Banded Sunfish and the Bluespotted Sunfish. Collectively, they are commonly referred to as the "Banded Sunfish" or "Little Sunfish".
The Okefenokee pygmy sunfish, Elassoma okefenokee, is a species of pygmy sunfish found in southeastern United States, where it prefers waters with dense vegetation growth in the Altamaha drainage in southern Georgia south to Lake Okeechobee, Florida, interior lake basins in north-central Florida, and upper Suwannee, Withlacoochee, and Hillsborough river drainages on the Gulf Coast of Florida. This species can reach 3.4 cm (1.3 in) in total length.
The spring pygmy sunfish, Elassoma alabamae, is a species of pygmy sunfish endemic to springs in northern Alabama. It was historically known to occur in springs in North Alabama along the Tennessee River in Limestone and Lauderdale counties. The spring pygmy sunfish was first discovered in Cave Spring in Lauderdale County, Alabama in 1937 but in 1938, this site was flooded by the creation of the Pickwick Reservoir. The spring pygmy sunfish was considered extinct until its rediscovery in the Beaverdam Spring complex in 1973 by researchers from the University of Tennessee.
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