The orangespotted sunfish is a small fish rarely caught on hook and line. They have an intermediate sized mouth that extends to the front edge of the eye but not much beyond that point. They have short rounded pectoral fins and a black opercle (ear flap) outlined in white. The male has orange dorsal, anal and pelvic fins and the anal and pelvics are usually outlined in black. The sides of the male are a metallic blue with orange spots scattered across the sides and cheeks. They also often have 3-6 silvery vertical bars usually with a purple sheen on their sides. Males have a orange belly and red-orange eyes. Female orangespotted sunfish are much duller colored. Their belly and pelvic fins are white or cream colored. The rear edge of the soft part of the dorsal fin usually has a few small dark spots. The rest of the dorsal and all other fins are clear. The sides are silvery often with a purple sheen. Instead of orange spots they have rusty brown spots scattered across the sides and cheeks. Called orangspot for short, the orangspotted sunfish is in the Centrarchidae family with other sunfish. They are typically 2-3 inches, but they can reach 4 inches.