Orangespotted Sunfish - Ecology

Ecology

The orangespotted sunfish prefers to reside in shallow, silt-laden waters such as floodplain pools, or will inhabit waters with fine substrates such as sand. As species of the fish age and develop, they explore new territories and expand their ecological limits through migration. The dominant prey of L. humilis includes insects, such as corixids and chironomids, zooplankton, other small invertebrates that live in the water column, and fish. Though orangespotted sunfish can be found in different parts of a lake, their prey items do not vary much throughout the lake compared to other sunfish species. If L. humilis is reared in an environment with altered prey availability, the species has been found to show phenotypic plasticity or morphological differences in response to this changed environmental condition. Certain prey types require different methods of prey capture, so as L. humilis develop, their body can be more elongate with an angled snout, or more deep bodied with a blunt snout, depending on the prey type.