Lepomis macrochirus, Bluegill : fisheries, aquaculture, gamefish, aquarium

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Lepomis macrochirus Rafinesque, 1819

Bluegill
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Image of Lepomis macrochirus (Bluegill)
Lepomis macrochirus
Male picture by Lovshin, L.

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Teleostei (teleosts) > Centrarchiformes (Basses) > Centrarchidae (Sunfishes)
Etymology: Lepomis: Greek, lepis = scaled + Greek, poma = gill cover, operculum (Ref. 45335, 79012);  macrochirus: macrochirus meaning large hand, probably referring to the body shape (Ref. 10294).
More on author: Rafinesque.

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Freshwater; benthopelagic; pH range: 7.0 - 7.5; dH range: 10 - 15. Subtropical; 1°C - 36°C (Ref. 35682); 50°N - 25°N

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

North America: St. Lawrence - Great Lakes and Mississippi river basin; from Quebec to northern Mexico. Widely introduced. Several countries report adverse ecological impact after introduction.

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 41.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 5723); common length : 19.1 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 12193); max. published weight: 2.2 kg (Ref. 4699); max. reported age: 10 years (Ref. 72462)

Short description Morphology | Morphometrics

A dark blue or black "ear" on an extension of the gill cover called the opercular flap; a prominent dark blotch at the base of the dorsal fin, close to the tail; typically olive-green backs, with a blue or purplish sheen along the sides; faint vertical bars may be present along the sides; breeding males may have more blue and orange coloration on their flanks (Ref. 44091).

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Adults are found frequently in lakes, ponds, reservoirs and sluggish streams (Ref. 5723, 10294); occur primarily in reservoirs in Hawaii; preferably live in deep weed beds (Ref. 5723). Active mainly during dusk and dawn. They feed upon snails, small crayfish, insects, worms and small minnows (Ref. 5723). Young feed on crustaceans, insects and worms (Ref. 5723, 10294).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Males guard the eggs for about 7 days (Ref. 93240).

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

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)

  Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 21 August 2018

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Potential pest





Human uses

Fisheries: minor commercial; aquaculture: commercial; gamefish: yes; aquarium: commercial
FAO - Aquaculture: production; ; Publication: search | FishSource |

More information

Common names
Synonyms
Metabolism
Predators
Ecotoxicology
Reproduction
Maturity
Spawning
Spawning aggregation
Fecundity
Eggs
Egg development
References
Aquaculture
Aquaculture profile
Strains
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Electrophoreses
Heritability
Diseases
Processing
Nutrients
Mass conversion
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Stamps, Coins Misc.
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Ciguatera
Speed
Swim. type
Gill area
Otoliths
Brains
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Special reports

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Internet sources

AFORO (otoliths) | Alien/Invasive Species database | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | BOLDSystems | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | FAO - Aquaculture: production; ; Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GenBank: genome, nucleotide | GloBI | GoMexSI (interaction data) | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | MitoFish | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | Public aquariums | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoobank | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.5001   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.01413 (0.01200 - 0.01662), b=3.13 (3.09 - 3.17), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  3.2   ±0.2 se; based on diet studies.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (K=0.19-0.23; tmax=11).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Low to moderate vulnerability (33 of 100).
Price category (Ref. 80766):   Unknown.
Nutrients (Ref. 124155):  Calcium = 53.9 [28.4, 111.3] mg/100g; Iron = 1.02 [0.62, 1.78] mg/100g; Protein = 18.4 [16.4, 20.4] %; Omega3 = 0.397 [0.164, 1.023] g/100g; Selenium = 26 [10, 63] μg/100g; VitaminA = 20.6 [6.4, 59.4] μg/100g; Zinc = 1.06 [0.71, 1.62] mg/100g (wet weight);