238 NORTHERN FISHES 



other species. Dr. R. E. Johnson of the Minnesota Department of 

 Conservation has since (1945) reported taking a single specimen of 

 what seems to be this species from Little Rock Lake in Morrison 

 County, Minnesota. Cox (1897) reported specimens from Big Stone 

 Lake and from the Pomme de Terre River. If found in Minnesota, 

 this species is not common and is restricted to the southern part. Be- 

 cause of its small size it is not an important pan fish. 



PUMPKINSEED (Common Sunfish) 

 Lepoviis gibbosus (Linnaeus) 



The punipkinseed (Figure 46A) , or common sunfish, is characterized 

 by a very deep, compressed body with a bright-orange belly. The back 

 is usually laised or humped more than in the other sunfishes. An out- 

 standing character distinguishing this species from the bluegill is the 

 bright-orange spot on the long opercular lobe. The yellow bellies of the 

 young aid in distinguishing them from young bluegills. The body 

 may be covered with orange spots, and bars may be absent from the 

 sides. Wavy bright-blue bars are sometimes present on the lower sides 

 of the head. The mouth is small; the maxillary reaches only a little 

 past the front of the orbit. The pectoral fins are long and pointed and 

 are contained less than 3 times in the standard length. The dorsal fin 

 has 10 spines and 11 or 12 soft rays. The opercular bones are not 

 flexible posteriorly. The gill-rakers are short and stout. 



The punipkinseed is found from the Dakotas and southern Canada 

 southward to the Gulf States. Greene (1935) reported it as widespread 

 over Wisconsin except in the Superior drainage, from which he has but 

 one record. It is almost as common in Minnesota as the bluegill. The 

 punipkinseed is found in most lakes and streams of the southern and 

 central counties, but it is not as common in the northern areas and is 

 absent from most of the rocky lakes of northeastern Minnesota. In 

 many lakes it has apparently hybridized with the bluegill to such an 

 extent that it is impossible to determine the species of many indi- 

 viduals. The punipkinseed reaches almost the same size as the bluegill 

 and has about the same value as a pan fish. Its spawning habits are the 

 same as those of the bluegill, and both spawn at the same time. 



COMMON BLUEGILL (Redbreasted Sunfish) 

 Ijepoiuis macrocliirns macrochirus Rafinesque 



The bluegill (Figures 45, 46B) has had many changes of name during 

 the past twenty years. For years it was called Lepomis pallidas 

 (Mitchill) . Then discoveries of priority led to the successive use of the 

 names Helioprrca incisor (Cuvier and Valenciennes), Helioperca via- 

 crochira (Rafinesque), and Lepomis viacrocJiirus Rafinesque. 



