The bantam sunfish (Lepomis symmetricus) is a species of freshwater fish in the genus Lepomis common throughout Louisiana, in extreme southeastern Texas, in southern Arkansas, and in a few places in western Kentucky and western Tennessee. Bantam sunfish are the smallest of all sunfish species that can be found in North America and are historically associated with the state of Illinois as they are found in the muddy and swampy waters of the Illinois region. However, the population of this fish in their native Illinois has been listed as endangered as they have suffered a steep decline due to human interference in the natural habitat which has led to the destruction of their ecosystem. Bantam sunfish (L. symmetricus) are protected by the forest service association in the state of Illinois as there have been efforts to bring the population of this fish back to their old numbers and hopefully it can be done as these fish are an important part of the natural ecosystem. Description The bantam sunfish is dark in color with around ten vertical stripes visible along each flank. The lower jaw protrudes noticeably beyond the upper. Distribution and habitat The northern and southern boundaries for the bantam sunfish coincide fairly heavily with the former Mississippi Embayment from southern Illinois to the Gulf of Mexico. As for the eastern and western boundaries, the bantam sunfish occurs along the Gulf Coast from Eagle Lake (in the Colorado River drainage) in Texas east through the Biloxi River system in Mississippi. The species is common only in a few states. These states include Louisiana where the fish resides statewide, extreme southeastern Texas, southern Arkansas, and a few places in western Kentucky and western Tennessee. The bantam sunfish is also known to occur, less commonly, in parts of extreme southwestern Illinois, the Bootheel of Missouri, McCurtain County in Oklahoma, and some Mississippi and Gulf Coast drainages of the State of Mississippi. Historically, isolated populations of the bantam sunfish occurred above the Fall Line in the Illinois River at Pekin, in backwater ponds and sloughs of the Wabash River drainage in White County, Illinois, and the Pine Hills. In Illinois, the range of the bantam sunfish is considered to be limited to the Wolf Lake region of Union County. Newer records extend the Illinois range of the bantam sunfish south through the Clear Creek drainage to Horseshoe Lake, Alexander County, and through the Cache River drainage in Buttonland Swamp, Limekiln Slough, and Grassy Slough. Previous collections in the Cache River drainage failed to produce any bantam sunfish.
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