Pumpkinseed Sunfish

Pumpkinseed Sunfish (Lepomis gibbosus).

Pumpkinseeds are a pool species preferring mucky or sandy substrates partially covered with organic debris and submersed aquatic vegetation.

A characteristic species of clear, weedy glacial lakes, Pumpkinseeds were once the most abundant sunfish of the Sandusky Bay region of Lake Erie.

Currently, only remnant populations reside in Lake Erie as a result of eutrophication and increased water turbidity. Elsewhere in Ohio, pumpkinseeds are found in many of the glacial lakes scattered around western and northeastern Ohio. They are also found in wetlands associated with the old Teays River Valley although their source of origin in this part of Ohio is unclear.

Pumpkinseeds are still one of the characteristic species in the Upper Cuyahoga State Scenic River which is characterized by relatively clear waters, beds of submersed aquatic vegetation, and substrates composed of sand, gravels, and organic debris.

The warmouth bass is a common associate of the pumpkinseed in the northern Ohio lakes and rivers such as the Upper Cuyahoga.