Bluespotted sunfish in NY ?

[Ellasoma at aol_com]

Enneacanthus gloriosus (Holbrook 1855)

Common Name: bluespotted sunfish. 

Identification: Smith (1985); Page and Burr (1991); Jenkins and Burkhead
(1994); Mettee et al. (1996). Maximum size: 9.5 cm. 

Native Range: Atlantic and Gulf Slope drainages below Fall Line from southern
New York to lower Tombigbee River, Alabama, south to southern Florida; above
Fall Line in New York and Pennsylvania (Page and Burr 1991). 

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Nonindigenous Occurrences: A population was discovered in the Jamesville
Reservoir, south of Syracuse, New York, in 1971 (Werner 1972; Lee et al. 1980
et seq.; Smith 1985). Collections also were made in 1916 from Oneida Lake,
just north of Syracuse (Smith 1985) and may represent an early introduction or
a relict population. The fish also has been introduced into the Big Black
River drainage in Mississippi (Peterson and Ross 1987; Ross and Brenneman
1991). It has been introduced to the Susquehanna River in Pennsylvania, were
it has been collected from Mountain Creek in Cumberland County, Stony Creek in
Dauphin County, Lake Winola in Wyoming County, and Harvey's Lake in Luzerne
County (Denoncourt et al. 1975c). 

Means of Introduction: The presence of this species in the Jamesville
Reservoir is probably due to an aquarium release sometime between 1951 and
1966 (Werner 1972). However, it is theoretically possible that the species
migrated up from the Hudson River, through the Erie or Barge Canal, to Oneida
Lake, then up the Chittenango River and Butternut Creek into Jamesville
Reservoir. Although Werner (1972) states that no specimens have ever been
collected in the intervening area, there is a collection from Oneida Lake
dating back to 1916; the only other collection in the Great Lakes basin (Smith
1985). These fish may either represent a relict population or an introduction
earlier than what was calculated in Jamesville Reservoir (Smith 1985). One
factor against the canal migration hypothesis is that there is a 2--3 m-high
weir with which a fish moving upstream from Oneida Lake to Jamesville
Reservoir would have to contend (Werner 1972). Jamesville Reservoir was
created in 1874, the same year the Erie Canal opened (Werner 1972). The origin
of the Pennsylvania fish is unknown. They may be either natural populations or
accidental introductions. Because this species is sometime kept as an aquarium
species, aquarium release is a possible means of introductions in Pennsylvania
(Denoncourt et al. 1975c). Unknown means of introduction for the Big Black
River drainage, Mississippi. 

Status: Established in Jamesville Reservoir, New York, and Big Black River
drainage, Mississippi. Collected from Susquehanna River, Pennsylvania.
Extirpated from Oneida Lake, New York. 

Impact of Introduction: Unknown. 

Remarks: Voucher specimens: New York (College of Environmental Science and
Forestry at Syracuse University), Pennsylvania (CU 16429; PSU; University of
Maryland, Appalachian Environmental Laboratory, LaVale). 

References 

Author: Pam Fuller 

Revision Date: 12 May 1998 




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part of the Biological Resources Division of the Geological Survey within the
U. S. Department of the Interior


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