Lepomis gibbosus, Pumpkinseed : fisheries, gamefish, aquarium

You can sponsor this page

Lepomis gibbosus (Linnaeus, 1758)

Pumpkinseed
Upload your photos and videos
Pictures | Stamps, Coins Misc. | Google image
Image of Lepomis gibbosus (Pumpkinseed)
Lepomis gibbosus
Picture by Kohout, J.

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);  gibbosus: gibbosus from gibbous, or like a full moon, referring to body shape (Ref. 1998).
More on author: Linnaeus.

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

Freshwater; brackish; benthopelagic; pH range: 7.0 - 7.5; dH range: 10 - 15; potamodromous (Ref. 51243); depth range 0 - 41 m (Ref. 1998). Subtropical; 4°C - 30°C (Ref. 1672); 50°N - 32°N, 125°W - 64°W (Ref. 86798)

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

North America: New Brunswick in Canada south to Savannah River in Georgia, USA; Great Lakes, Hudson Bay (Red River), and upper Mississippi River basins from Quebec west to southeastern Manitoba and North Dakota, and south to north Kentucky and Missouri, USA. Introduced to Pacific drainages from British Columbia to California. Several countries report adverse ecological impact after introduction.

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 40.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 86798); common length : 9.9 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 12193); max. published weight: 630.00 g (Ref. 4699); max. reported age: 12 years (Ref. 72493)

Short description Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 10 - 12; Dorsal soft rays (total): 10-12; Anal spines: 3; Anal soft rays: 8 - 11; Vertebrae: 28 - 30

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Inhabits vegetated lakes and ponds, as well as quiet pools of creeks and small rivers (Ref. 86798). Feeds on small fishes and other vertebrates (Ref. 1998), as well as fish eggs (Ref. 2058). Adtults rarely form schools but occur in pairs or loose aggregations of three to four individuals; young individuals aggregate in fairly large schools (Ref. 120693). An introduced species in Europe which avoids swift waters and occurs in estuaries with a salinity up to 18.2 ppt (Ref. 59043). Reported in Europe to prey on a wide variety of invertebrates (Ref. 59043). Considered undesirable catch (Ref. 30578).

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

Males build the nest on very shallow waters near the shore. The pair then swims in a circular path over the nest and eggs and sperm is released in intervals. The male guards the eggs for about 7 days (Ref. 93240) and the young (to about 11 days after hatching), then prepares the nest for another spawning with the same or different females (Ref. 1998). In European waters, each male may spawn with several females in one nest and guard the nest until abandoned by larvae (Ref. 59043). Produces up to 1000 eggs (Ref. 1672).

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Page, L.M. and B.M. Burr, 2011. A field guide to freshwater fishes of North America north of Mexico. Boston : Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 663p. (Ref. 86798)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)

  Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 01 March 2012

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Potential pest





Human uses

Fisheries: subsistence fisheries; gamefish: yes; aquarium: commercial
FAO - Publication: search | FishSource |

More information

References
Aquaculture
Aquaculture profile
Strains
Genetics
Electrophoreses
Heritability
Diseases
Processing
Nutrients
Mass conversion
Collaborators
Pictures
Stamps, Coins Misc.
Sounds
Ciguatera
Speed
Swim. type
Gill area
Otoliths
Brains
Vision

Tools

Special reports

Download XML

Internet sources

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=0.01148 (0.00913 - 0.01443), b=3.11 (3.06 - 3.16), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  3.3   ±0.1 se; based on diet studies.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (tm=2; Fec=600-5000).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Moderate to high vulnerability (49 of 100).
Price category (Ref. 80766):   Unknown.