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Centrarchiformes (Basses) >
Centrarchidae (Sunfishes)
Etymology: Lepomis: Greek, lepis = scaled + Greek, poma = gill cover, operculum (Ref. 45335, 79012); humilis: humilis meaning humble, referring to the small size (Ref. 10294).
More on author: Girard.
Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range
Ecology
Freshwater; benthopelagic. Temperate; 10°C - 28°C (Ref. 12468); 48°N - 29°N
North America: lower Great Lakes (in southern ends of Lakes Erie and Michigan), Hudson Bay, and Mississippi River basin from Ohio to southern North Dakota, and south to Louisiana in the USA; in Gulf Slope drainages from Mobile Bay in Alabama to Colorado River in Texas in the USA.
Size / Weight / Age
Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 17.5 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 3993); common length : 7.4 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 12193); max. reported age: 4 years (Ref. 72462)
Inhabits quiet pools of creeks and small to large, often turbid, rivers; usually near brush (Ref. 5723, 10294). Feeds on microcrustaceans and aquatic insect larvae, principally chironomid dipterans (Ref. 10294).
Life cycle and mating behavior
Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae
Page, L.M. and B.M. Burr, 1991. A field guide to freshwater fishes of North America north of Mexico. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston. 432 p. (Ref. 5723)
IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2024-1)
Threat to humans
Harmless
Human uses
Fisheries: commercial; aquarium: public aquariums
Tools
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Internet sources
Estimates based on models
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref.
82804): PD
50 = 0.5001 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.01047 (0.00562 - 0.01952), b=3.10 (2.94 - 3.26), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species & Genus-body shape (Ref.
93245).
Trophic level (Ref.
69278): 3.6 ±0.55 se; based on food items.
Resilience (Ref.
120179): High, minimum population doubling time less than 15 months (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref.
59153): Low vulnerability (10 of 100).