strange sunfish help

The otherday i was walking in the woods near my house where there is a creek and a small waterfall connected to a swamp-like lake area. As i watched the fish swimming it seemed to be building a nest in the sand under a tree. But what was strange about the sunfish was that it had a white creamy body with little marking but bright red orange coloration on the tips of its fins. It was about 6 inches long, but its body was almost like that of a sunfish only thinner halfway between bass and sunfish. I had hoped that someone can try and help me identify the fish. I dont currently have a picture of it because i had thought that it was breeding for it and did not want to disturb its nest but now that its been a few weeks i will try to catch one and take a picture of it. But, that should not be to hard because they are all over the lake and seem to thrive there. Also, i should add that the water it drinking water clear with a sandy bottom and the fish can be observed swimming in groups (but not schools) all with the same coloration.

The otherday i was walking in the woods near my house where there is a creek and a small waterfall connected to a swamp-like lake area. As i watched the fish swimming it seemed to be building a nest in the sand under a tree. But what was strange about the sunfish was that it had a white creamy body with little marking but bright red orange coloration on the tips of its fins. It was about 6 inches long, but its body was almost like that of a sunfish only thinner halfway between bass and sunfish. I had hoped that someone can try and help me identify the fish. I dont currently have a picture of it because i had thought that it was breeding for it and did not want to disturb its nest but now that its been a few weeks i will try to catch one and take a picture of it. But, that should not be to hard because they are all over the lake and seem to thrive there. Also, i should add that the water it drinking water clear with a sandy bottom and the fish can be observed swimming in groups (but not schools) all with the same coloration.

Try following link.
http://forum.nanfa.o.../265-sunfishes/

The orange spotted lookes about right, but they only grow 3-4 inches, the one i saw was about 5-6 inches. But it does have the correct fin coloration.h

Sounds like a redbreast to me.

Are you talking about the back of the fish being white? We have a pond at work (golf course) that has bluegills with a color mutation. Their backs look white/silver. At first I thought they were albino, but they just lack the dark pigment that usually covers their backs. They look cool from above, nothing special from the side.

Green sunfish? Orange fins, elongated body.

As soon as I read the original post, I was thinking Redbreast like Dustin. Males can have comparatively pale flanks with that blue sheen to them. Also bright red tips of the soft dorsal, caudal and anal fins. Although, I reckon green is a possibility, but seem much darker when looking through the water as compared to redbreasts.

It may be a redbreast but there is really no way to know untill i get a chance to catch one in a few days. I will post a picture as soon as possible. But in the meantime in my current location, my aunt lives near a lake and i set out a minnow trap and when i came back i found a few minnows 1-1.5 inches long that where almost completely transparent. I see them al the time like this and its regular size for them, but only after catching them did i notice they where transparent. Does anyone reconize these. I will post pictures tomorow.

Why do redbreasts have so much color variability? My local ones are green. I seen pictures of them from mass that were blue, and pictures from elsewhere that were whitish.

Why do redbreasts have so much color variability? My local ones are green. I seen pictures of them from mass that were blue, and pictures from elsewhere that were whitish.

I know what you mean it makes it very hard to reconize the species if there is so much color variation.

It may be a redbreast but there is really no way to know untill i get a chance to catch one in a few days. I will post a picture as soon as possible. But in the meantime in my current location, my aunt lives near a lake and i set out a minnow trap and when i came back i found a few minnows 1-1.5 inches long that where almost completely transparent. I see them al the time like this and its regular size for them, but only after catching them did i notice they where transparent. Does anyone reconize these. I will post pictures tomorow.

Brook silversides? Though this would be an odd minnow trap capture. These guesses are all specualtion of course. Get us some photos and we will take care of these IDs for you.

Redbreast sunfish and mosquitofish are my guesses.

It may be a redbreast but there is really no way to know untill i get a chance to catch one in a few days. I will post a picture as soon as possible. But in the meantime in my current location, my aunt lives near a lake and i set out a minnow trap and when i came back i found a few minnows 1-1.5 inches long that where almost completely transparent. I see them all the time like this and its regular size for them, but only after catching them did i notice they where transparent. Does anyone reconize these. I will post pictures tomorow.

Are you talking about the back of the fish being white? We have a pond at work (golf course) that has bluegills with a color mutation. Their backs look white/silver. At first I thought they were albino, but they just lack the dark pigment that usually covers their backs. They look cool from above, nothing special from the side.

There are some like that in the lagoon of the Cleveland Art Museum. Out of like a hundred (or some large number) of dark bluegill or sunfish like fish, one or two will be white.

Again, I'll go with the percentages as former NANFA President Bruce Stallsmith once pointed out:

Green Sunfish, 90% of the time!