Spotted Sunfish and Their Polygamous Spawning Ritual

A Lepomis Punctatus a member of the panfish family sometimes called a Stumpknocker is more familiarly known as a spotted sunfish. Spotted sunfish are called spotted because they have spots on their body that extend from east to west and up and down. There are different colors of spotted sunfish. Some varieties of sunfish colors are orange, yellow, blue, ocean, green, pumpkinseed and red. Sunfish are commonly found from South Carolina to Florida.

People enjoy fishing for sunfish claiming they make good eats. Depending on the kind of sunfish the climate and the area they can weigh under a pound to 25 pounds plus. On average sunfish usually weigh between 1 to 3 pounds.

Spotted sunfish males are polygamous. When a sunfish female swims into a nesting colony of males. Sunfish males strut their stuff in order to lure females into their nest. They raise their fins and swish their tail and try to do a seducing bedroom act by swimming all around the female and then swimming back toward their nest. Coaxing and persuasion gets the average male sunfish about 7 females.

Once the male lures the female into the nest the spawning ritual begins. After the eggs are laid the male runs the female off and then he looks to find another female so she can lay more eggs in his nest. Egg numbers in a nest range from a hundred to several thousand. Spotted female sunfish bounce back from being driven from the nest of their male counterpart. They are polygamous to and they will quickly swim into the nest of another attractive male vying for their attention.

Unfortunately for some male sunfish, about 5 to 15 percent, they don't have the looks to lure females into their nest. They are at a genetic disadvantage. There are two types of male sunfish that fit into this genetic makeup. The first is called a "Sneaker." This type of male sunfish remains youthful in looks. It looks immature instead of looking like the mature male that it really is.

The "Sneaker" poses no threat to other males while it lingers near the proximity of their nest because it looks juvenile. They swim into action by "Sneaking" into male sunfish nests as spawning is taking place with a female. They are an unwanted third trying to fertilize eggs with their own sperm. "Sneakers" pack testes that are highly fertile because they are three times the size of normal testes.

The second type is called a "Satellite." This male sunfish looks feminine. It is wooed by other males and receives an open invitation into their nest. Once it enters the nest it sprays sperm over the eggs that have already been laid by previous females giving the manly male sunfish a big shock. Surprisingly "Sneakers" and "Satellites" only manage to fertilize fewer than 2 percent of eggs.