Dollar sunfish

The dollar sunfish (Lepomis marginatus) is a species of freshwater fish in the sunfish family (family Centrarchidae) of order Centrarchiformes. It is categorized as a warm-water panfish. Early settlers said that this species of sunfish resembled a European species they called "bream". Historically it has been found along the Southern Atlantic coastal drainages from North Carolina to Florida, and west to Texas. Lepomis marginatus mainly feeds on detritus and filamentous algae as well as a few terrestrial insects (Homoptera, Hymenoptera). The juvenile and mature fish do not have many predators, but the eggs in the nest are in danger of predation from a few different species of fish.

The dollar sunfish can have different breeding seasons depending on where it is located geographically. On average the dollar sunfish breeds from April to September, and in some states such as North Carolina, it breeds from May to August. They always finish breeding before the weather turns cold. These fish breed mainly on sandy substrates. "Bourgeois" males build and tend nests, court females, and care for eggs and young. The average lifespan is around six years, and it can grow up to a maximum of 100 mm.

Currently there are very well-managed creel limits for the sunfish species. The creel limits help to protect the species from being over-harvested. Other species of sunfish have been stocked in Tennessee lakes; however, the dollar sunfish has yet to be stocked in any of the river drainages of Tennessee.

Habitat

The micro-distribution of the dollar sunfish is characterized by a pH of 7–7.8 and a temperature of 16–28 °C (61–82 °F).

Distribution

Historically, the dollar sunfish has been found along Southern Atlantic coastal drainages from North Carolina to Florida, and extending west to Texas. The species is most common in the southeastern United States, becoming increasingly uncommon in the western part of its range Its current range in North America is the Tar River in North Carolina to Brazos River in Texas in the US; the former Mississippi Embayment in the US from western Kentucky and eastern Arkansas south to Gulf of Mexico. There have been a few records of the dollar sunfish in the Tennessee and Mississippi river drainage. However, due to its great similarity in appearance to younger specimens of the longear sunfish, L. megalotis, the distribution of L. marginatus has not been well understood in certain portions of its range.