Elassoma evergladei
Jordan 1884
Family Elassomatidae
The Everglades pygmy sunfish is part of the pygmy sunfish family. It often has embedded scales on top of the head and dark brown lips, and the head and body are light to dark brown with many black specks and spots. There are no large black spots on the upper side of the body near the dorsal fin origin. Large males are black with bright iridescent blue spots on the side of the body and below the eye, and white spots on the blue dorsal, anal and pelvic fins. Everglades pygmy sunfish can be found in swamps, vegetated sloughs, ditches and backwaters of small streams.
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