Mud sunfish

Mud Sunfish
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Perciformes
Family:	Centrarchidae
Genus:	Acantharchus
Species:	A. pomotis
Binomial name
Acantharchus pomotis (Baird, 1855)

The mud sunfish (Acantharchus pomotis) is a sunfish (family Centrarchidae) widely distributed in the fresh waters along the Atlantic coast of North America, ranging from New York to Florida.

The mud sunfish prefers sluggish, weedy waters of 10–22 °C (50–72 °F), over muddy, detritus-strewn bottoms, and occurs in small lakes as well as riverine backwaters. The maximum recorded size of this species is 21 cm (8 in).

A. pomotis is currently the only species of genus Acantharchus Gill, 1864, but Baird had originally assigned it to Centrarchus. The generic name, Acantharchus, derives from the Greek άκανθα (thorn) and άρχος (ruler). A. pomotis is sometimes also known as the mud bass.

References

• Froese, Rainer, and Daniel Pauly, eds. (2004). Species of Acantharchus in FishBase. October 2004 version.
• Froese, Rainer, and Daniel Pauly, eds. (2004). "Acantharchus pomotis" in FishBase. October 2004 version.
• "Acantharchus pomotis". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. http://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=168095. Retrieved 5 December 2004.