Family CENTRARCHIDAE 



THE SUNFISH FAMILY 



The sunfish family is one of the most important famihes of game 

 fishes, for it contains the sunfishes, the crappies, and the largemouth 

 and smallmouth basses. About 24 species arc known for this family. 

 Ten species of the sunfish family, or Centrarchidae, are more or less 

 common in Minnesota. These species are the rock bass, the warmouth, 

 the largemouth bass, the smallmouth bass, two species of crappies, and 

 five species of sunfishes. Numerous variations of the name "bass" have 

 been applied to various members of this family, as well as to those of 

 the family Serranidae. 



The members of the sunfish family are characterized by having more 

 or less deep, flattened bodies, with two dorsal fins in the middle of the 

 back. These fins arc confluent or joined together. The front, or anterior, 

 fin is supported by 5 to 13 sharp spines; the hind, or posterior, fin is 

 supported by soft rays. The ventral fins are thoracic and typically 

 have 1 spine and 5 rays. The anal fin has 2 to 8 spines. 



All the various species are considered more or less warm-water 

 fishes and prefer fertile lakes of moderate temperatures with abundant 

 vegetation growing on firm sand and mud bottoms. They are widely 

 distributed from southern Canada to the Gulf of Mexico. More species 

 occur in the southern than in the northern states. The members of 

 this family are all native to North America, though some, such as the 

 largemouth bass, have been introduced into Europe, South America, 

 and elsewhere. Only one species, the Sacramento perch (Archoplites 

 interrwptus) of California, is native west of the Rockies. 



All members of the family are nest builders. The males perform the 

 important duties of building the nest and caring for the young. The 

 male prepares the nest in shallow water by fanning out a depression on 

 the bottom with his tail. He then hunts up a female, who lays eggs in the 

 nest. After laying the eggs the female is often chased away by the male, 

 who guards the eggs and watches over the young until they are able to 

 look after themselves. In some cases one female may serve several males 

 and may even spawn several times during the summer. The male is very 

 pugnacious during the spawning season and will dart viciously at any 

 fish or object approaching the nest. 



Members of the sunfish family sometimes use the nests of other fishes 

 that have finished spawning. In the case of sunfishes it has been reported 

 that they may spawn again later in the season and use the same nest. 

 In the northern states most of the species of the sunfish family with 

 the exception of the crappies usually go into semihibernation during 

 the winter and feed little or not at all. This reduction in food intake 



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