Redspotted sunfish

The redspotted sunfish (Lepomis miniatus), also known as a stumpknocker, is a species of freshwater ray-finned fish, a sunfish from the family Centrarchidae which is native to the United States. The redspotted sunfish was previously considered to be a western subspecies of spotted sunfish (Lepomis punctatus) but was distinguished as a separate species by Warren in 1992.

Habitat

Lepomis miniatus feeds primarily on benthic species. Zooplankton make up between 33.3% to 74.6% of the diet of small sunfishes, about 50% of the diet of medium-sized sunfishes as they introduce larger prey into their diet. At larger sizes the redspotted sunfish shifts primarily to benthic macrofauna. Many larger carnivorous fish feed on the redspotted sunfish, primarily bass. Lepomis miniatus is commonly found in shallow and highly vegetated water. The species seems to prefer areas of slow moving water, 0.4 cm/s. The redspotted sunfish is salt tolerant and can be found in the lower reaches of estuaries, such as bayous, along the Gulf Coast west of Florida. While the redspotted sunfish has been shown to compete with other sunfish and some invasive species, like the Rio Grande cichlid in Louisiana, this competition is thought to have little effect in most cases due to the generalist diet of Lepomis miniatus. A more direct danger could be invasive species that force Lepomis miniatus out of its preferred habitat, increasing the risk of predation.

Distribution

The redspotted sunfish is a freshwater fish that can be found throughout the Mississippi River Valley. The distribution spreads north into Illinois and to the Ohio River, west into Texas and to Oklahoma's Red River, and east to the Chattahoochee River in Georgia. Currently the populations of Lepomis miniatus found in the southern United States seem to be stable. However, the species's numbers have diminished significantly in the state of Illinois which lies at the northernmost point of the fish's historic range. Once, the redspotted sunfish was found in bodies of water throughout the state but the species's range, as of 2004, had diminished to just a few counties in the central and southern portions of Illinois. Surveys conducted in the mid-2000s suggested that just two populations existed in the entire state at the time, one in a tributary of the Illinois River and the other in a tributary of the Ohio River. There could be a number of causes for the decrease in the Lepomis miniatus in Illinois. A popular theory is that the redspotted sunfish has struggled due to a loss of wetlands, which make up the sunfish's natural habitat. The population may also be declining due to increasingly poor water conditions or from competition with invasive species.