Life History of a Peripheral Population of Bluespotted Sunfish Enneacanthus gloriosus (Holbrook), with Comments on Geographic Variatio

• Published in: The American midland naturalist Vol. 141; no. 2; pp. 345 - 357
• Main Authors: Snyder, Douglas J., Peterson, Mark S.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: University of Notre Dame 01-04-1999
• Subjects: Anadromous fishes; Body size; Breeding seasons; Ecological life histories; Female animals; Freshwater fishes; Marine fishes; Otolith organs; Ova; Sunfish
• ISSN: 0003-0031; 1938-4238

Enneacanthus gloriosus occurs in coastal plain drainages from New York to Florida and W to Mississippi, but little is known about its life history. Enneacanthus gloriosus is smaller and shorter-lived in Mississippi than in eastern populations. The spawning season of E. gloriosus ranges from April to September and gonadosomatic index values were highest between April and August, peaking in May with an additional but lower peak in August. Ripe eggs are also found during every month of the spawning season. These data indicate E. gloriosus is a multiple batch spawner. The sex ratio did not differ from 1:1, the diameter of mature ova averaged 0.68 mm, and the number of ripe ova per female averaged 117.2. Enneacanthus gloriosus at the periphery of its western distribution in Mississippi exhibit substantial variation in a number of life-history patterns including size, age, length at maturity and spawning season compared to populations ranging from New Jersey to Florida.