Redear sunfish

The favorite food of this species is snails.

The Redear sunfish lives in the demersal, freshwater environment.

The redear sunfish (Lepomis microlophus), also known as the shellcracker, Georgia bream, cherry gill, chinquapin, improved bream, stumpknocker, and sun perch, is native to the southeastern United States, but since it is a popular sport fish it has been introduced to bodies More

Redear sunfish have two dorsal fins that are so smoothly connected they appear as one long fin. The first dorsal fin has 9 to 11 spines and the second has a near equal number of soft rays. More

Habitat: In Oregon, redear sunfish are found only in a few ponds in the Willamette Valley and the central part of the state. In their native range, redear sunfish prefer warm, large lakes and reservoirs and bayous with vegetated shallow areas and clear water. More

Redear sunfish are not native to Ohio, but have been stocked in Ohio waters since 1931. Their native range was limited to southern states. Historically they were not found upstream of the mouth of the Wabash River in the Ohio River system. More

Redear sunfish are native to the eastern half of the United States, from South Carolina to Texas in the south, and from southern Illinois east to the Atlantic Coast in the north. More

Redear Sunfish Lepomis microlophus banded sunfish Banded Sunfish Enneacanthus obesus "Endangered" icon - click for more information blackbanded sunfish Blackbanded Sunfish Enneacanthus chaetodon bluespotted sunfish Bluespotted Sunfish Enneacanthus More

Redear sunfish usually reach a length of 6 to 14 inches and a weight of anywhere from 3 oz. to more than 3 lbs. The redear sunfish is a slab-sided, thin sunfish with a circular body. More

Redear Sunfish (Lepomis microlophus) Description: Non-native. Introduced in 1946. The "Red-ear" sunfish has a black opercle flap which is bordered with a reddish or orange color on the rear of the flap. More

Redear sunfish were originally found in the southeastern US from Texas north to a line even with southern Illinois and east to the Atlantic Ocean. More

Photo of redear sunfish fisheries with larger panfish in them. Results have been impressive; trap net surveys conducted in 30 lakes with mature redear populations showed the average specimens to be 8. More

copyrighted picture of the redear sunfish from "Fishes of Alabama and the Mobile Basin" = SCIENTIFIC NAME: Lepomis microlophus CHARACTERISTICS: Locally known as shellcracker, redear sunfishes are one of Alabama’s least colorful but most sought after More

Redear Sunfish (Lepomis microlophus) = Drawing of Redear Sunfish (Lepomis microlophus) Illustration More

Common names

Chopa caracojera in Spanish (español)
Mojarra eoreja roja in Spanish (español)
mojarra oreja roja in Spanish (español)
Redear in English
redear sunfish in English
Rødøret solaborre in Danish (dansk)
小冠太阳鱼 in Mandarin Chinese
小冠太陽魚 in Mandarin Chinese

Order : Perciformes
Family : Centrarchidae
Genus : Lepomis
Species : Lepomis microlophus
Authority : G