Lepomis marginatus
(Holbrook 1855)
Family Centrarchidae
The dollar sunfish is a member of the sunfish family. This species has a white margin around an upwardly slanted black ear flap, wavy blue lines on the cheek and gill cover and a red streak along the lateral line. There are chainlike bars on the side of the body, and this species has three anal spines and typically 12 pectoral rays. Large males are bright red with bright blue-green marbling and spots on the body, with the upper jaw extending under the front of the eye. Dollar sunfish can be found in pools of creeks and small to medium rivers, and can live in swamps or near vegetation and woody debris.
Status & distribution
- Status — Native freshwater
- Florida Distribution — Western and North Central and Peninsula drainages
- River Drainages — Perdido River, Escambia River, Blackwater River, Yellow River, Choctawhatchee River, Econfina Creek, Apalachicola River, Ochlockonee River, minor Gulf tributaries, Suwannee River, Withlacoochee River, Tampa Bay, the Myakka or Peace River, Lake Okeechobee, Caloosahatchee River, the Everglades, Indian River, the Tolomato or Matanzas River, St. John’s River and the St. Mary’s River