Warmouth

Lepomis, the generic name, is Greek and means "scaled gill cover". The species label gulosus is Latin and means “gluttonous”. Warmouth gets its common name from the stripes around the mouth of the fish bearing a resemblance to war paint.

Warmouth have a dark brown or dark olive back, yellow-brown or olive sides, with a tan or yellow belly. Its sides have faint dark blotches or mottling, irregular light spots, and/or diffuse dark vertical bars. Three to five reddish-brown lines radiate backwards from the its reddish eye. The gill cover has a black spot with a light margin. Their dorsal, caudal, and to a lesser extent anal fins have dark mottling and/or dark spots and the pelvic and pectoral fins are lightly pigmented to dark in color. The dorsal fin has 2 lobes, broadly joined by a membrane and appearing as one fin, the first with about 10 spines and the second with 9-10 soft rays. Warmouth body is laterally compressed and deep, slightly elongated with a slightly forked and rounded tail. It has a large mouth with pads of small teeth.

Breeding adults are similar to non-breeders, but with more intense colors. Juveniles are similar to adults.

Rock bass, warmouth and green sunfish all look very similar to each other. To tell them apart, remember that the rock bass has five (or more) spines in its anal fin, while the warmouth and green sunfish have only three. The warmouth has a small band of teeth near the tip of its tongue, and fewer than 45 scales in the lateral line. The green sunfish has no teeth near the tip of the tongue, has more than 45 scales in the lateral line, and has a dark spot at the base of the last three soft dorsal rays. Both rock bass and warmouth have reddish eyes, especially noticeable in freshly caught rock bass.