Visual communication in fish is often shaped by the light environment they inhabit, which influences both sensory (e.g., eye size, opsin gene expression) and signaling traits (e.g., body reflectance). This study explores the phenotypic variation in the visual communication traits of six species of centrarchids (Centrarchidae) inhabiting two contrasting light environments. We measured morphological, molecular, and signaling traits to determine their variation across photic conditions. Our findings reveal significant interspecific variation in sensory traits but no consistent phenotypic variation between light environments. Centrarchids showed robust visual systems with red-green dichromatic vision, which was largely unaffected by different light habitats. We also found significant molecular evolution in the visual opsin genes, although these changes were not associated with environmental conditions. However, body reflectance displayed species-specific responses to environmental conditions, suggesting that signaling traits may be more flexible than sensory traits. Overall, our results challenge the generality of the current paradigm in visual ecology, which portrays visual systems in fish as highly tunable owing to photic conditions. Our study highlights the potential evolutionary or developmental constraints on centrarchid visual systems and their implications for adaptability to various habitats and novel environmental threats.