Pumpkinseed

Pumpkinseeds have a body shaped much like a pumpkin seed (thus the common name), typically about 10 cm (4 in) but up to 28 cm (11 in) in length. They typically weigh less than 1 pound (450 g), with the world record being 1 pound 8 ounces (680 g), caught at Honeoye Lake in Upstate New York in 2016. The pumpkinseed is vibrantly colored and may be orange, green, yellow or blue, with speckles over their sides and back and a yellow-orange breast and belly. The sides are covered with vertical bars that are a faint green or blue, which are typically more prevalent in female pumpkinseeds. Orange spots may cover the dorsal, anal, and caudal fins, and the cheeks have blue lines across them. The pumpkinseed is noted for the orange-red spot on the margin of its black gill cover. The pectoral fins can be amber or clear, while the dorsal spines are black.

The pumpkinseed's native range in North America is from north to New Brunswick, Canada, down the east coast of the United States south to South Carolina, and extending inland to the middle of North America from Pennsylvania to Iowa, depending on various river systems. It has, however, been introduced throughout most of North America, and can now be found from Washington and Oregon on the Pacific Coast to Georgia further south on the Atlantic Coast. They are primarily found in the northeastern United States and more rarely in the south-central or southwestern region of the continent.

Pumpkinseeds are carnivorous and feed on a variety of small prey both at the water surface and at the bottom. Among their favorites are insects, small molluscs and crustaceans (such as small crawfish), worms, minnow fry, small frogs or tadpoles, and even cannibalizing other smaller pumpkinseeds. They are effective at destroying mosquito larvae and even occasionally consume small pieces of aquatic vegetation and detritus. They also will readily consume human food scraps, most notably bread which is commonly used for bait.

The pumpkinseed sunfish has a terminal mouth, allowing it to open at the anterior end of the snout. Pumpkinseed sunfish that live in waters with larger gastropods have larger mouths and associated jaw muscles to crack the shells.

Pumpkinseeds typically live in warm, calm lakes, ponds, and pools of creeks and small rivers with plenty of vegetation. They prefer clear water where they can find shelter to hide. They tend to stay near the shore, and can be found in numbers within shallow and protected areas. They will feed at all water levels from the surface to the bottom in the daylight, and their heaviest feeding will be in the afternoon. Pumpkinseed sunfish usually travel together in schools that can also include bluegills and other sunfish.

Pumpkinseeds are more tolerant of low oxygen levels than bluegills are, but less tolerant of warm water. Groups of young fish school close to shore, but adults tend to travel in groups of two to four in slightly deeper yet still covered waters.

Once water temperatures reach 55–63 °F (13–17 °C) in the late spring or early summer, the male pumpkinseeds begin to build nests. Nesting sites are typically in shallow water on sand or gravel lake bottoms. The males use their caudal fins to sweep out shallow, oval-shaped nesting holes that stretch about twice the length of the pumpkinseed itself. The fish remove debris and large rocks from their nests with their mouths.

Nests are arranged in colonies consisting of about three to 15 nests each. Often, pumpkinseeds build their nests near bluegill colonies, and the two species interbreed. Male pumpkinseeds are vigorous and aggressive, and defend their nests by spreading their opercula. Because of this aggressive behavior, pumpkinseeds tend to maintain larger territories than bluegills.

The pumpkinseed sunfish is very common and is not listed by CITES. It is considered Least Concern (not threatened) by the IUCN. Spawning grounds of the pumpkinseeds can be disturbed by shoreline development and shoreline erosion from heavy lake use. Their susceptibility to silt and pollution makes the pumpkinseed a good indicator of the cleanliness and health of water.