FAMILY CENTRARCHIDAE 



239 



This sunfish has faint bars on the sides, which fade quickly after the 

 fish is removed from the water. It may be distinguished by a black spot 

 above the base of the posterior dorsal fin and by short, black opercular, 

 or "ear," lobes on the gill covering. Some very old individuals have 

 longer opercular lobes and a very vivid purplish hue. The lower sides 

 of the head and the opercle are blue, sometimes bright blue. The blue- 

 gill is the largest of Minnesota sunfishes. It reaches a weight of well 

 over a pound, and weights of 2 pounds have been reported. The mouth 



Figure 45. Common bluegill, Lepomis macrochirus Tuacrochirus , an old male, 



8 inches long. 



is small; the maxillary barely reaches the front of the orbit. The dorsal 

 fin has 10 rather long spines and 10 to 12 soft rays. The anal fin has 3 

 spines and 10 to 12 soft rays. The pectoral fins are long and pointed 

 and are contained slightly more than 3 times in the standard length. 

 The opercular bone is fiexible posteriorly and extends almost to the 

 margin of the opercular lobe. The gill-rakers are long and slender. 



The bluegill is found from North Dakota through southern Canada 

 and southward to the Gulf States. It is the most common and widely 

 spread of all the sunfishes in Minnesota and neighboring states. It is 

 common over most of Wisconsin and has been reported several times 

 from the Lake Superior drainage (Greene, 1935) . It is found in most 

 lakes and streams of Minnesota, but is absent from some of the cold, 

 rocky lakes and streams in the northeastern part. It is rare in or absent 

 from most of the Minnesota area of the Lake Superior drainage. 



It nests from the middle of May until the first of August. Bluegills 



