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Sunfish ID

Started by Guest_FirstChAoS_* , Jan 08 2012 11:54 PM

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17 replies to this topic

#1 Guest_FirstChAoS_*

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Posted 08 January 2012 - 11:54 PM

I caught a sunfish today I am not sure of the ID of. I cannot see opercular tabs on it. I almost suspect pumpkinseed due to the coloration, but without tabs I cannot tell before. (bluegill, pumpkinseed, and redbreast occur in this river and in this stretch I mainly see redbreast). Someone on my trip report suggested smallmouth bass but I doubt it as I seen both big and small smallmouth and their shape and color is different.

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#2 Guest_frigginchi_*

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Posted 09 January 2012 - 08:15 AM

Juvie Ambloplites rupestris ?
http://www.bio.txsta...s rupestris.htm

I caught a sunfish today I am not sure of the ID of. I cannot see opercular tabs on it. I almost suspect pumpkinseed due to the coloration, but without tabs I cannot tell before. (bluegill, pumpkinseed, and redbreast occur in this river and in this stretch I mainly see redbreast). Someone on my trip report suggested smallmouth bass but I doubt it as I seen both big and small smallmouth and their shape and color is different.

Edited by frigginchi, 09 January 2012 - 08:17 AM.

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#3 Guest_jblaylock_*

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Posted 09 January 2012 - 09:36 AM

I suggested SMB. I have caught juvenile LMB this size and the shape is dead on.

I was wondering where the other post went???

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#4 Guest_UncleWillie_*

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Posted 09 January 2012 - 09:42 AM

Personally, I think you've got a funky colored redbreast. The dark orange/brown spots on the sides is pretty good indicator. Other than that brown color, that fish's overall look (the spots I mentioned, and the pattern on the cheek) looks like many of the young redbreast I catch around here.

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#5 Guest_FirstChAoS_*

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Posted 09 January 2012 - 11:06 AM

I suggested SMB. I have caught juvenile LMB this size and the shape is dead on.

I was wondering where the other post went???

In the trip report, since I was asking about ID issues I decided to post in the ID forum as well as it was the appropriate place to ask.

I do doubt it is a micropterus thought.

I have caught smallmouth bass both small

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And large

And it doesn't look like one to me.

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#6 Guest_FirstChAoS_*

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Posted 09 January 2012 - 11:10 AM

Personally, I think you've got a funky colored redbreast. The dark orange/brown spots on the sides is pretty good indicator. Other than that brown color, that fish's overall look (the spots I mentioned, and the pattern on the cheek) looks like many of the young redbreast I catch around here.

Thanks, usually if I get a redbreast around here they are green with a yellow to orange breast. I get a definate lepomis vibe off this fish. But the lack of a tab which are usually round in bluegill, red edged in pumpkinseed, and elongated in redbreast confuses the issue for me. (though I HAVE seen small redbreast with rounded tabs and some bluegill with elongated tabs so I wonder how good an identifier they are).

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#7 Guest_UncleWillie_*

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Posted 09 January 2012 - 12:48 PM

Most redbreast I catch are males anyway. But for reference, here is a pic of a hefty female. She doesn't have a long ear tab at all. The bluegills in my folks farm pond all have giant ear tabs. The breeding bluegill males will have ear tabs that are spoon-shaped, whereas redbreast have a more elongated and pointed ear tab.
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#8 Guest_NVCichlids_*

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Posted 10 January 2012 - 03:24 PM

definately not a smallmouth. I have never seen a redbreasted sunfish, but the sunfish you are explaining as a juvinile redbreast sounds like young green sunfish around here.

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#9 Guest_Uland_*

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Posted 10 January 2012 - 04:49 PM

In my limited experience, young Warmouth often have indistinct opercular tabs and both adults and juveniles often have dark (brown) lines on the operculum that radiate from the eye.

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#10 Guest_Orangespotted_*

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Posted 10 January 2012 - 07:11 PM

I can kind of see where people are mistaking the little guy for a juvenile bass because of those bars on the cheek, but if you look closer the bars are more of an amber-orange alternating with a light metallic blue, and the mouth is tiny. These are also the reasons why I think Warmouth should be ruled out. (disclaimer: I'ver never seen a juvenile Warmouth in real life). That leaves us with the Lepomis options FirstChAos mentioned: Pumpkinseed, Redbreast, and Bluegill. Bluegill can be ruled out right away because they lack spotting and barred operculums. Now it gets tricky... poorly colored young Pumpkinseeds and Redbreast look remarkably similar. I can't decide between the two, but I'm fairly certain that it is one of those. Since you said that you see more Redbreasts than Pumpkinseeds there, I'm leaning towards a little Redbreast.

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#11 Guest_frigginchi_*

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Posted 10 January 2012 - 09:30 PM

I still think he looks like this guy. But that's me

Edited by frigginchi, 10 January 2012 - 09:31 PM.

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#12 Guest_NCNativeFish_*

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Posted 11 January 2012 - 06:56 PM

I have a honey hole for catching juvenile Warmouths, and I am all but certain that this is what you caught.

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#13 Guest_FirstChAoS_*

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Posted 12 January 2012 - 10:31 AM

I have a honey hole for catching juvenile Warmouths, and I am all but certain that this is what you caught.

If it was a warmouth it would be the first for my state and open up alot of questions. Though nothing will rule out an exotic occams razor sort of leans against it when uncertainty is present.

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#14 Guest_smbass_*

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Posted 27 January 2012 - 02:55 PM

It is a young redbreast sunfish. They are more elongate than pumpkinseed or bluegill and the mouth is not big enough for it to be a warmouth nor do they have the orange specks and blue lines on the cheek. It also is not a rockbass or smallmouth for the same reasons.

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#15 Guest_gerald_*

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Posted 27 January 2012 - 04:55 PM

Agree with Brian, it's a Redbreast. The unusually dark color and purplish tinge on this one does give the impression of a Warmouth, but otherwise it looks like a pretty typical Redbreast. At least it's not a Green, for a change.

Edited by gerald, 27 January 2012 - 04:56 PM.

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#16 Guest_FirstChAoS_*

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Posted 28 January 2012 - 02:44 AM

It is a young redbreast sunfish. They are more elongate than pumpkinseed or bluegill and the mouth is not big enough for it to be a warmouth nor do they have the orange specks and blue lines on the cheek. It also is not a rockbass or smallmouth for the same reasons.

Actually redbreast DO have blue lines on their cheeks. I have had one in my 55 since the summer.

This picture Justin (bumpylemoun) took when we were fishing shows it well.

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I couldn't get a photo of the one in my tank to come out well enough to show the faint blue lines.

Is it odd I catch and ID redbreast fishing all the time but that one I netted stumped me. It's not like I don't know the species.

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#17 Guest_UncleWillie_*

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Posted 28 January 2012 - 09:13 AM

I think what Brian was saying is that your fish has blue lines on the cheeks, but warmouth, rockbass, and smallmouth do not. I'm glad to see that Brian and Gerald chimed in and confirm that it was redbreast. I must say, I was getting a bit worried that no one was agreeing with me on redbreast.