Olive-green and yellow sunfish with a large downturned mouth and dark fin edges.

Green sunfish

Lepomis cyanellus
Where at Shedd?
At Home on the Great Lakes
Diet Invertebrates and fishes
Size Length: Up to 12.2 inches (31 cm); common length 7.9 inches (20 cm)
Type Fishes
Range North America
Habitat Slow-moving streams, ponds and lakes of central United States; widely introduced

Did you know?

  1. Green sunfish resemble bluegills and sometimes hybridize with them, so it’s hard to tell who’s who! But green sunfish are greener, with larger mouths.
  2. This fish can tolerant iffy conditions (warm, murky waters), so it’s abundant where other fishes might struggle.
  3. When these prolific fish overpopulate small lakes, outstripping the food supply, they become stunted, resulting in a lake full of three-inch fishes.

IUCN Red List Conservation Status