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Lepomis Temporal range: Middle Miocene to Recent
Redbreast sunfish (L. auritus), the type species of the genus
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Centrarchiformes
Family:	Centrarchidae
Subfamily:	Lepominae
Genus:	Lepomis Rafinesque, 1819
Type species
Lepomis auritus Linnaeus, 1758
Synonyms
List Allotis Hubbs, 1927 Apomotis Rafinesque, 1819 Bryttus Valenciennes, 1831 Chaenobryttus Gill, 1864 Erichaeta Jordan, 1877 Eupomotis Gill & Jordan, 1877 Glossoplites Jordan, 1876 Helioperca Jordan, 1877 Icthelis Rafinesque, 1820 Pomotis Cuvier, 1829 Pomotis Rafinesque, 1819 Sclerotis Hubbs, 1927 Telipomis Rafinesque, 1820 Xenotis Jordan, 1877 Xystroplites Jordan, 1877

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 λεπίς ("scale") and πῶμα ("cover", "plug", "operculum"). The genus' most recognizable species is perhaps the bluegill.

Some Lepomis species can grow to a maximum overall length of 41 cm (16 in), though most average around 10–20 cm (3.9–7.9 in). 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.

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.

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), expanded with fossil species. Subgenera in bold follow Bailey (1938):

	genus Micropterus genus Lepomis clade I** L. humilis L. macrochirus clade Chaenobryttus L. gulosus L. kansasensis L. serratus clade Apomotis L. symmetricus L. cyanellus clade II** subgen. Lepomis L. auritus clade Icthelis L. marginatus L. peltastes* L. megalotis subgen. Eupomotis L. gibbosus L. microlophus clade Bryttus L. punctatus L. miniatus L. sp. A ***

L. peltastes was not originally included in the analysis by Near et al. (2005) and is included here based on commonly accepted sister relationship to L. megalotis.

See section 'Evolutionary History' below for explanation.

Phylogenetic position in clade II uncertain. See section 'Fossil record' for clarification.

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. 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, 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:

• Lepomis sp. A consists of fragmentary fossils of its lower jaw from Nebraska, dated to 13.5 million years ago, and shows morphological similarities to the modern Lepomis microlophus, although its great age means that this species predates the divergence of any of the living species.
• Lepomis sp. B was found in deposits in Kansas, dated to 12 million years ago.

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:

• Lepomis kansasensis lived 6.6 million years ago, and had pterygoid teeth, indicating a close relationship to the warmouth.
• Lepomis serratus is known from 3.4 to 2.0 million year old deposits in Nebraska, and also appears to be closely related to or ancestral to the warmouth on the basis of its preopercle.

Species

There are currently 13 recognized species in this genus:

Image	Species	Common name
	Lepomis aquilensis	plains longear sunfish
	Lepomis auritus (Linnaeus, 1758)	redbreast sunfish
	Lepomis cyanellus (Rafinesque, 1819)	green sunfish
	Lepomis gibbosus (Linnaeus, 1758)	pumpkinseed
	Lepomis gulosus (G. Cuvier, 1829)	warmouth
	Lepomis humilis (Girard, 1858)	orangespotted sunfish
	Lepomis macrochirus (Rafinesque, 1819)	bluegill
	Lepomis marginatus (Holbrook, 1855)	dollar sunfish
	Lepomis megalotis (Rafinesque, 1820)	longear sunfish
	Lepomis microlophus (Günther, 1859)	redear sunfish
	Lepomis miniatus (D. S. Jordan, 1877)	redspotted sunfish
	Lepomis peltastes (Cope, 1870)	northern sunfish
	Lepomis punctatus (Valenciennes, 1831)	spotted sunfish
	Lepomis solis	swampland longear sunfish
	Lepomis symmetricus (S. A. Forbes, 1883)	bantam sunfish

There are also 22 recognized hybrids:

• Lepomis macrochirus × cyanellus (greengill sunfish)
• Lepomis macrochirus x microlophus (gillcracker)
• Lepomis cyanellus x gibbosus (pumpgreen sunfish)
• Lepomis cyanellus x gulosus (green sunfish x warmouth)
• Lepomis gulosus x macrochirus (warmouth x bluegill)
• Lepomis macrochirus x megalotis (bluegill x longear sunfish)
• Lepomis gibbosus x macrochirus (pumpkingill)
• Lepomis auritus x cyanellus (redbreast x green sunfish)
• Lepomis microlophus x cyanellus (redear x green sunfish)
• Lepomis auritus x microlophus (redbreast x redear sunfish)
• Lepomis macrochirus x punctatus (bluegill x spotted sunfish)
• Lepomis gibbosus x peltastes (pumpkinseed x Northern sunfish)
• Lepomis megalotis x cyanellus (longear x green sunfish)
• Lepomis miniatus x punctatus (redspotted x spotted sunfish)

References

1. ^ Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Lepomis". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 19 May 2020.
2. Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Genera in the family Centrarchidae". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 19 May 2020.
3. 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
4. "Bream". Britannica. Chicago, Illinois: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. 15 January 2020.
5. Near, T. J., D. I. Bolnick, and P. C. Wainwright (2005). "Fossil calibrations and molecular divergence time estimates in centrarchid fishes (Teleostei: Centrarchidae)". Evolution. 59 (8): 1768–1782. doi:10.1111/j.0014-3820.2005.tb01825.x. PMID 16329246.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
6. Bailey, R. M., W. C. Latta, and G. R. Smith (2004). "An atlas of Michigan fishes with keys and illustrations for their identification". University of Michigan Museum of Zoology, Miscellaneous Publications. 192.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
7. S. J. Cooke, D. P. Philipp (2009). Centrarchid fishes: diversity, biology, and conservation. Blackwell Publishing Ltd. pp. 1–38. ISBN 9781405133425.
8. National Research Council (1995). Effects of Past Global Change on Life. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. pp. 184–208. doi:10.17226/4762. ISBN 978-0-309-05127-9. PMID 25121267.
9. Smith, C.L. (1962). "Some Pliocene fishes from Kansas, Oklahoma, and Nebraska". Copeia. 1962 (3): 505–520. doi:10.2307/1441172. JSTOR 1441172.
10. Wilson, R.L. (1968). "Systematics and faunal analysis of a Lower Pliocene vertebrate assemblage from Trego County, Kansas". Contributions from the Museum of Paleontology University of Michigan. 22: 75–126.
11. Hibbard, C.W. (1936). "Two new sunfish of the family Centrarchidae from middle Pliocene Kansas". University of Kansas Science Bulletin. 24: 177–185.
12. Skinner, M. F.; Hibbard, C. W., eds. (1972). Pleistocene Preglacial and Glacial Rocks and Faunas of North Central Nebraska. American Museum of Natural History, New York. pp. 40–54.
13. Bennett, D.K. (1979). "Three Late Cenozoic fish faunas from Nebraska". Transactions of the Kansas Academy of Science. 82 (3): 146–177. doi:10.2307/3627406. JSTOR 3627406.
14. Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Species in genus Lepomis". FishBase. February 2013 version.
15. ^ Kim, Daemin; Bauer, Bruce H; Near, Thomas J (2021-05-03). "Introgression and Species Delimitation in the Longear Sunfish Lepomis megalotis (Teleostei: Percomorpha: Centrarchidae)". Systematic Biology. 71 (2): 273–285. doi:10.1093/sysbio/syab029. ISSN 1063-5157.
16. "Hybrid Lepomids - An Introduction". Koaw Nature. Retrieved 2021-07-17.

• Lepomis
• Lepominae
• Taxa named by Constantine Samuel Rafinesque
• Extant Miocene first appearances