The green sunfish, like warmouth, has a large mouth and a heavy, black bass body shape. The body is dark green, almost blue, dorsally, fading to lighter green on the sides, and yellow to white ventrally. Faint vertical bars are apparent on the sides.
Some scales have turquoise spots.
Lepomis, the generic name, is Greek and means scaled gill cover . The green sunfish is a very versatile species, able to tolerate a wide range of environmental conditions, and tends to do very well when competition with other sunfish is minimal. Its ability to tolerate environmental extremes makes it ideal for survival in Prairie streams where conditions are not stable, and they are often the first sunfish species to repopulate depleted areas. Green sunfish nest in shallow water colonies where nests are often closely packed. Gravel or rocky bottom sites are usually preferred for nest building.