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Centrarchidae
 
 
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The sunfishes are a family
Family (biology)

In biological classification, family is a taxonomic rank. Exact details of formal nomenclature depend on the Nomenclature Codes which applies....
 (Centrarchidae) of freshwater ray-finned fish belonging to the order Perciformes
Perciformes

The Perciformes, also called the Percomorphi or Acanthopteri, include about 40% of all bony fish and are the largest order of vertebrata....
. The type genus
Type genus

In biology, the phrase type genus is used differently depending on the nomenclature Codes that applies:* In ICZN, a type genus is "The nominal genus that is the name-bearing Biological type of a nominal family-group taxon."...
 is Centrarchus (consisting solely of the flier, C. macropterus). The family's 27 species includes many fishes familiar to North America
North America

North America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and almost totally in the western hemisphere....
ns, including the rock bass
Rock bass

The rock bass , also known as the goggle-eye or red eye, is a species of freshwater fish in the sunfish family of order Perciformes. They are similar in appearance to smallmouth bass but are usually quite a bit smaller....
, largemouth bass
Largemouth bass

The largemouth bass is a species of fish in the Centrarchidae family . It is also known as widemouth bass, bigmouth, black bass, bucketmouth, Florida bass, Florida largemouth, green bass, green trout, linesides, Oswego bass, and southern largemouth....
, bluegill
Bluegill

The Bluegill is a species of freshwaterfish sometimes referred to as bream, brim, or copper nose. It is a member of the sunfish family of order Perciformes....
, and crappie
Crappie

Pomoxis is a genus of freshwater fish in the sunfish family of order Perciformes. The type species is P. annularis, the white crappie....
s. All are native only to North America.

Family members are distinguished by having at least three anal spines.






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The sunfishes are a family
Family (biology)

In biological classification, family is a taxonomic rank. Exact details of formal nomenclature depend on the Nomenclature Codes which applies....
 (Centrarchidae) of freshwater ray-finned fish belonging to the order Perciformes
Perciformes

The Perciformes, also called the Percomorphi or Acanthopteri, include about 40% of all bony fish and are the largest order of vertebrata....
. The type genus
Type genus

In biology, the phrase type genus is used differently depending on the nomenclature Codes that applies:* In ICZN, a type genus is "The nominal genus that is the name-bearing Biological type of a nominal family-group taxon."...
 is Centrarchus (consisting solely of the flier, C. macropterus). The family's 27 species includes many fishes familiar to North America
North America

North America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and almost totally in the western hemisphere....
ns, including the rock bass
Rock bass

The rock bass , also known as the goggle-eye or red eye, is a species of freshwater fish in the sunfish family of order Perciformes. They are similar in appearance to smallmouth bass but are usually quite a bit smaller....
, largemouth bass
Largemouth bass

The largemouth bass is a species of fish in the Centrarchidae family . It is also known as widemouth bass, bigmouth, black bass, bucketmouth, Florida bass, Florida largemouth, green bass, green trout, linesides, Oswego bass, and southern largemouth....
, bluegill
Bluegill

The Bluegill is a species of freshwaterfish sometimes referred to as bream, brim, or copper nose. It is a member of the sunfish family of order Perciformes....
, and crappie
Crappie

Pomoxis is a genus of freshwater fish in the sunfish family of order Perciformes. The type species is P. annularis, the white crappie....
s. All are native only to North America.

Family members are distinguished by having at least three anal spines. The dorsal spines are 5–13 in number, but most species have 10–12. The pseudobranch
Pseudobranch

The pseudobranch, also pseudobranchia is the reduced first gill arch of a fish .In teleost fish, the pseudobranchs are mostly without Respiratory system, and in elasmobranchs they are the gill arch of the spiracle....
 is small and concealed. Sizes of most are in the to range. However, some are much smaller, with the blackbanded sunfish at just in length, while the largemouth bass is reported to reach almost in extreme cases.

The male of most species builds a nest by hollowing out a depression using his tail, then guards the eggs.

Most sunfishes are valued for sports fishing
Fishing

Fishing is the activity of catching fish. Fishing techniques include Fish net, Fish trap, Spearfishing, angling and Gathering seafood by hand. The term fishing may be applied to catching other aquatic animals such as different types of shellfish, squid, octopus, turtles, Edible frog and some edible marine invertebrates....
, and have been introduced in many areas outside their original ranges, sometimes becoming pests.

The marine sunfishes (family Molidae) are entirely unrelated; for some other fishes known as "sunfish", see Ocean Sunfish
Ocean sunfish

File:Mondfisch_Ozenarium_Lissabon_20090228.ogvThe ocean sunfish, Mola mola, or common mola, is the heaviest known Osteichthyes in the world....
.

Fossil record

The earliest fossils of Centrarchidae are from Middle Miocene
Middle Miocene

The Middle Miocene is a sub-epoch of the Miocene epoch made up of two faunal stage: the Langhian and Serravallian stages. The Middle Miocene is followed by the Early Miocene....
 Nebraska
Nebraska

Nebraska is a U.S. state located on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States and Western United States.Nebraska probably gets its name from the archaic Chiwere language words ?? Br?sge or the Omaha-Ponca language N? Bth?ska meaning "flat water," after the Platte River that flows through the state....
, belonging to the redear sunfish
Redear sunfish

The redear sunfish , also known as the shellcracker, Georgia bream, cherry gill, chinquapin, improved bream, and sun perch, is native to the southeastern United States, but since it is a popular sport fishing it has been introduced species to bodies of water all over North America....
 (13.6-16.3 million years ago).

Classification


Recent genetic evidence suggests the following phylogeny of the centrarchid genera:

  • family Centrarchidae
    • subfamily Centrarchinae
      • tribe
        Tribe (biology)

        In biology, a tribe — or infrafamily — is a taxonomic rank between family and genus. It is sometimes subdivided into subtribes....
         Ambloplitini
        • Ambloplites
          Ambloplites

          'Ambloplites' Constantine Samuel Rafinesque-Schmaltz, 1820, is a genus of freshwater fish in the sunfish family of order Perciformes. The type species is A....
      • tribe Archoplitini
        • Archoplites
        • Pomoxis
      • tribe Centrarchini
        • Centrarchus
      • tribe Enneacanthini
        • Enneacanthus
          Enneacanthus

          Enneacanthus Gill , 1864, is a genus of freshwater fish in the sunfish family of order Perciformes. The type species is E. obesus, the banded sunfish, and the species of this genus are known collectively as the banded or little sunfishes....
    • subfamily Lepominae
      • tribe Lepomini
        • Lepomis
          Lepomis

          Lepomis is a genus of freshwater fish in the sunfish family of order Perciformes. The type species is L. auritus, the redbreast sunfish....
    • incertae sedis
      Incertae sedis

      Incertae sedis , abbreviation "inc. sed.", is a term used to define a taxonomy group where its broader relationships are unknown or undefined....
      • Micropterus
      • Acantharchus