Lepomis Explained

Lepomis or true sunfish is a genus of North American freshwater fish from the family Centrarchidae in the order Perciformes (perch-like fish). The generic name Lepomis derives from the Greek Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: λεπίς ("scale") and Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: πῶμα ("cover", "plug", "operculum"). The genus' most recognizable type species is perhaps the bluegill.

Some Lepomis species can grow to a maximum overall length of, though most average around . Many species are sought by anglers as popular panfishes, and large numbers are bred and stocked in lakes, rivers, ponds and wetlands. They are widely distributed throughout the freshwater lakes and river tributaries of the United States and Canada, and several species have been translocated and flourished around the world, even becoming pests. Aquarium trade in some Lepomis species is prohibited in Germany for this reason.[1]

Lepomis species, among others, are sometimes referred to as bream, but the term is also used to refer explicitly to the unrelated European cypriniform fish of genus Abramis.[2]

Phylogeny

Phylogeny of all Lepomis species based on a partitioned mixed-model Bayesian analysis of a seven gene dataset of mitochondrial and nuclear gene DNA sequences by Near et al. (2005),[3] expanded with fossil species. Subgenera in bold follow Bailey (1938):

Evolutionary history

Phylogenetic reconstructions using a combination of nuclear and mitochondrial DNA sequences calibrated with fossils to estimate ages of divergences suggests that the genus Lepomis diverged from the black bass in genus Micropterus, its sister taxon, about 25 million years ago.[5] The deepest split among currently living species of Lepomis is dated to ~15 million years ago and separates genus Lepomis into two clades: clade I that leads to the modern bluegill, orange-spotted, green, and warmouth sunfish, and a clade II that includes the modern long-ear, red-breasted, pumpkinseed, redear, and red-spotted sunfish (see section 'Phylogeny' above). The timing of this speciation event roughly corresponds with the Middle Miocene disruption that resulted in increased aridity on the plains of North America and a transition from savannah to grasslands,[6] although the relevance of these environmental changes to the evolution of Lepomis is unclear.

Fossil record

No fossils unambiguously assigned to genus Lepomis are currently known from the putative stem-lineage that must have existed between 25 and 15 million years ago, spanning most of the early Miocene.

Currently, four extinct species of Lepomis are known from the fossil record:

There are at least two as yet undescribed fossil species of Lepomis that reach back to the middle Miocene:

Two other more recent fossil species appear to be closely allied to Lepomis gulosus, and indeed their earliest occurrence may be close to the divergence of the lineage leading to the modern warmouth from other species of Lepomis:

Species

There are currently 13 recognized species in this genus:

There are also 22 recognized hybrids:[12]

Notes and References

  1. Przybylski, Mirosław, and Grzegorz Zięba. "Invasive Alien Species Fact Sheet." NOBANIS – Invasive Alien Species Fact Sheet. NOBANIS. NOBANIS, 2011. Web. 5 Jan. 2015. Invasive Alien Species Fact Sheet - Lepomis gibbosus
  2. Encyclopedia: Bream . Britannica . 15 January 2020 . Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. . Chicago, Illinois .
  3. Near, T. J., D. I. Bolnick, and P. C. Wainwright. Fossil calibrations and molecular divergence time estimates in centrarchid fishes (Teleostei: Centrarchidae). Evolution. 2005. 59. 8. 1768–1782. 10.1111/j.0014-3820.2005.tb01825.x. 16329246. free.
  4. Bailey, R. M., W. C. Latta, and G. R. Smith. An atlas of Michigan fishes with keys and illustrations for their identification. University of Michigan Museum of Zoology, Miscellaneous Publications. 2004. 192.
  5. Book: S. J. Cooke, D. P. Philipp. Centrarchid fishes: diversity, biology, and conservation. 2009. Blackwell Publishing Ltd.. 9781405133425. 1–38.
  6. Book: National Research Council. Effects of Past Global Change on Life. 1995. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.. 978-0-309-05127-9. 184–208. 10.17226/4762. 25121267.
  7. Smith. C.L.. Some Pliocene fishes from Kansas, Oklahoma, and Nebraska. Copeia. 1962. 1962. 3. 505–520. 10.2307/1441172. 1441172.
  8. Wilson. R.L.. Systematics and faunal analysis of a Lower Pliocene vertebrate assemblage from Trego County, Kansas.. Contributions from the Museum of Paleontology University of Michigan. 1968. 22. 75–126.
  9. Hibbard. C.W.. Two new sunfish of the family Centrarchidae from middle Pliocene Kansas. University of Kansas Science Bulletin. 1936. 24. 177–185.
  10. Book: M. F. Skinner, and C. W. Hibbard, editors.. Pleistocene Preglacial and Glacial Rocks and Faunas of North Central Nebraska. 1972. American Museum of Natural History, New York. 40–54.
  11. Bennett. D.K.. Three Late Cenozoic fish faunas from Nebraska. Transactions of the Kansas Academy of Science. 1979. 82. 3. 146–177. 10.2307/3627406. 3627406.
  12. Web site: Hybrid Lepomids - An Introduction. 2021-07-17. Koaw Nature. en-US.

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