densities and as a result there have been few studies conducted on it. What has been discovered is that spawning appears to vary with latitude with gravid females being collected during the late spring and early summer in Delaware while further south, in North Carolina and Georgia spawning takes place during the early fall and late winter. They have a maximum life span of 8 years and sexual maturity is attained at one year old. Their diet is made up largely of invertebrates including amphipods, decapods, and beetles with some smaller fishes and Odonata. Conservation The IUCN has assessed the status of the mud sunfish as Least Concern and states that its population is stable. In individual states, however, there have been significant reductions in the species range. In New York the species was only recorded from the Hackensack River and it has not been collected from there since 1935. Its range has also significantly reduced in New Jersey, particularly in the northern and central parts of the state but it remains reasonable common and widespread in the Pinelands. In New Jersey the fish's decline is possibly a result of a number of reasons including land use and habitat changes and the introduction of non-native fish which predate on the mud sunfish and in this state it has been recommended that it be classified as a species of special concern. It has been extirpated from Pennsylvania. References Further reading Lepominae Fish described in 1855 Freshwater fish of the Southeastern United States Taxa named by Spencer Fullerton Baird Freshwater fish of North America