[4] Egg count in the ovaries of females in captivity ranged from 115 to 500, increasing with the fish's size.

[5] According to one source, males are dark black and have iridescent blue flecks,[8] and females have a brown coloration.

[8] The Everyglades pygmy sunfish can be found in the United States from the end of Cape Fear River, North Carolina to Mobile Bay, Alabama.

[2] They reside in swamps, sphagnum bogs, sloughs with heavy vegetation, canals, overflow pools, ponds, lakes, and streams; generally over mud, silt, sand, limestone, or detritus.

[2][4] Prey include cladocerans, dipteran larvae, annelids, chironomids, copepods, ostracods,[4] and newly hatched snails.

[8] Where food is centrally located, males will establish territories with closer proximity to the center based on dominance.

[5] In environments of evenly distributed food, males will range freely and will not establish territories.

[1][2] One author considers it "the best-known member of the group [pygmy sunfishes] in the aquarium hobby.

[4] David Starr Jordan first described the species in 1884,[2] and his original specimens measured one inch in length.