CHAMPLAIN – The state Department of Environmental Conservation’s rare fish unit located a population of threatened fish in the Great Chazy River earlier this month.

The northern sunfish has suffered extreme losses in western New York, which biologists attribute to a variety of factors, including interactions with non-native fish such as the green sunfish and round goby.

“We are ecstatic for this discovery, and it adds to the unique species in the Great Chazy River that showcase its diversity and fishing appeal,” DEC biologist Doug Carlson said in a press release. Carlson and technician Eric Maxwell located dozens of the threatened fish in the river.

The northern sunfish is also known as the longear sunfish. It is small, thin, deep-bodied and averages 3 to 4 inches in length.

“It is sometimes a colorful fish with an olive to rusty-brown back, bright orange belly, and blue-green bars on the side of the head,” the DEC release said. “The northern sunfish has short, round pectoral fins and an upward-slanting gill cover flap that has a white and red flexible edge. It is often mistaken for a pumpkinseed sunfish.”