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Banded Sunfish
Enneacanthus obesus
Photo credit: Karsten Hartel
Life history and habitat
requirements: The banded sunfish
lives in calm, vegetated water of lakes, ponds and small rivers
over a sand or mud bottom. They feed mostly on aquatic insect
larvae, scuds, and other small crustaceans. The fish grow
2.0 to 3.8 inches in length and live up to four years. Spawning
can occur from early spring into summer. The female lays eggs
in a small, round nest built by the male. The nest may be
used again for spawning once the earlier eggs have hatched.
(Sources: Freshwater
Fishes of the Carolinas, Virginia, Maryland, & Delaware)
Total Length:
2 - 3 inches (largest recorded in Massachusetts 4.25 inches)
Pollution tolerance (US EPA):
unknown
Classification:
Macrohabitat generalist
Number of fish found during 1954 & 2001
Fish Surveys:*
| Location |
No. of Fish 1954 |
No. of Fish 2001 |
| Assabet River |
4 |
3 |
| Danforth Brook |
1 |
1 |
| Hop Brook |
1 |
1 |
| Nagog Brook |
1 |
1 |
| Nashoba Brook |
10 |
|
| Total |
15 |
6 |
*Sources:
Schlotterbeck, L.C. and W.A. Tompkins, 1954. "A
Fisheries Investigation of the Merrimack and Ipswich River Drainages."
Bureau of Wildlife Research and Management, Massachusetts Division
of Fisheries and Game.
DFW, 2001. Assabet Watershed Fish Survey. MA Department of
Fisheries and Wildlife, Westborough, MA.
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