Centrarchidae

Sunfish Temporal range: Late Eocene to Recent
Flier (Centrarchus macropterus)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Perciformes
Superfamily:	Percoidea
Family:	Centrarchidae Bleeker, 1859[1]
Type species
Centrarchus macropterus Lacépède, 1801
Subfamilies
See text
Centrarchidae native range

Centrarchidae, better known as sunfishes, is a family of freshwater ray-finned fish belonging to the order Perciformes (formerly belonging to the deprecated order Centrarchiformes), native only to North America. There are eight universally included genera within the centrarchid family: Lepomis (true sunfishes), Micropterus (black basses), Pomoxis (crappies), Enneacanthus (banded sunfishes), Centrarchus (type genus, consisting solely of the flier C. macropterus), Archoplites (Sacramento perch), Ambloplites (rock basses), and Acantharchus (mud sunfish).^[2] A genetic study in 2012 suggests that the highly distinct pygmy sunfishes of the genus Elassoma are also centrarchids.^[3]

The centrarchid family comprises 38 identified species,^[2] 34 of which are extant.^[4] It includes many popular game fishes familiar to North American anglers, such as the largemouth bass, rock bass, bluegill, pumpkinseed, green sunfish and crappies. Most sunfish are highly valued panfish for sport fishing, and have been introduced in many areas outside their native ranges, sometimes becoming invasive species. While edible, they are not commercially marketed as food fish.