Elassoma zonatum Jordan, 1877
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
The banded pygmy sunfish, Elassoma zonatum, is a species of pygmy sunfish endemic to the United States, where it is found from Indiana and Illinois to Texas to the Atlantic coast. It prefers densely vegetated bodies of slow-moving water. This species can reach 4.7 cm (1.9 in) in total length, though most do not exceed 3.5 cm (1.4 in).
The banded pygmy sunfish are capable of retaining their juvenile characteristics while they are sexually mature; that is to say that they are neotenous.
It was originally thought that the banded pygmy sunfish belonged to the cichlid family. However, researchers Hay, Jordan, and Gilbert thought that the banded pygmy sunfish was actually an intermediate species of fish between the pirate perch and the centrarchid family of fishes. Therefore, the banded pygmy sunfish was placed into its own family, Elassomatidae. In the 5th edition of Fishes of the World, though, this is treated as a subfamily of the sunfish family Centrarchidae. More recent authorities treat it again as its own family, although closely related to the Centrarchidae.
Wikipedia contributors, Banded pygmy sunfish; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T19:34:51.521358+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Elassoma zonatum Jordan, 1877
- Name authority
- Jordan, 1877
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Teleostei
- Order
- Centrarchiformes
- Family
- Elassomatidae
- Genus
- Elassoma
- Extinction status
- Not supplied by this source
Source habitat flags: Marine: no · Freshwater: yes · Terrestrial: no. These do not form a complete habitat description.
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- gigaclassActinopterygii
- superclassActinopteri
- classTeleostei
- orderCentrarchiformes
- familyElassomatidae Jordan, 1877
- genusElassoma Jordan, 1877
- speciesElassoma zonatum Jordan, 1877
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Elassoma. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Elassoma gilberti Snelson, Krabbenhoft & Quattro, 2009 | ElassomatidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Elassoma alabamae Mayden, 1993 | ElassomatidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Elassoma boehlkei Rohde & Arndt, 1987 | ElassomatidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Elassoma okatie Rohde & Arndt, 1987 | ElassomatidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Elassoma zonata Jordan, 1877 Jordan, 1877 | synonym |
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- Jordan, D. S. (1877). Contributions to North American ichthyology based primarily on the collections of the United States National Museum. No. 2. A.--Notes on Cottidae ... , and Hyodontidae, with revisions of the genera and descriptions of new or little known species. Bulletin of the United States National Museum, [v. 1] No. 10: 1–68, Pls. 44–45. https://doi.org/10.5962/bhl.title.39651 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:3957F. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.