Mud sunfish

The mud sunfish (Acantharchus pomotis) is a freshwater ray-finned fish, a sunfish from the family Centrarchidae, which widely distributed in the fresh waters along the Atlantic coast of North America, ranging from New York to Alabama. It is the only species in the genus Acantharchus.

Distribution

The mud sunfish occurs along the eastern seaboard of the United States from southern New York south as far as northern Florida. The range of this species just extends into Alabama where they have been recorded in Beaver Dam Creek in Washington County. There is a gap in their range in Maryland and Virginia, along the western part of Chesapeake Bay between the Susquehanna River and the Potomac River. It is not common anywhere in its range.

The mud sunfish is found in freshwaters which are stained dark with tannins. It has been recorded in slow-moving sluggish, well vegetated creeks, rivers, ponds, lakes and swamps. As its common name suggests it prefers substrates consisting of mud or detritus.