16 replies to this topic

[Betta132]

Yes, I know these photos kinda suck. I'm not hoping for an exact ID. Taken while scuba diving in Lake Travis, in Central Texas. Which, by the way, I recommend. There's an island that all these party barges moor around, and all the drunk people drop stuff. Mostly sunglasses, but sometimes really expensive ones, and my dive instructor has found money and wallets. 

 

Logperch? If so, is there any way for me to catch some? They were in about 20 feet of water, so a dipnet or seine won't work. 

Also, do logperch live in pairs? I usually found one or two of these at a time, and the pairs usually swam off together. 

 

 

These guys looked like convict tangs at first glance. I know it looks like stress coloration, but I saw at least half a dozen of these guys, and none of them were freaked out enough to be wearing stress colors. They were avoiding me, but they weren't terrified or being chased by anything else. I'm not expecting a perfect ID, but has anyone else seen a sunny with colors like this? They were about 5-6" long, and the colors might be partially due to the white rocks that primarily made up their habitat. 

[Isaac Szabo]

Yes, your first 2 photos are logperch. Your last 2 photos are bluegill.

[Matt DeLaVega]

Yes there are logperch. but the other fish I am not certain about. I would  not be steering you in the right direction. Could they be cichlids?

[Betta132]

Ok, thanks. Are the bluegills all silver like that because of their surroundings? 

[Josh Blaylock]

My ID skills aren't the best, but I can see where Matt gets cichlids from.  Doesn't look like a bluegill to me. Maybe it's the photo, angle, or water clarity, but the slope from the back to the nose looks very steep and the eye is large and prominent.  The other is for sure a logperch.  

[Matt DeLaVega]

Yeah that slope is what threw me. The eye, and the stripes seem too solid. But lets be real, not the best ID shot so?

[Isaac Szabo]

This should help to see them a little more clearly:

 

 

What kind of cichlid are you guys thinking of? I don't have much experience with cichlids, but with a quick internet search I couldn't find anything similar to these fish. In fact, most of the species I saw have rounded caudal fins, quite different from the forked caudal fins of these fish.

 

I'm quite confident they are bluegill. The slope of the nape will appear more extreme than it really is with the fish angled away from the camera. The stripe pattern is very similar to Florida Bluegill. Perhaps that subspecies was stocked in the lake?

[Josh Blaylock]

The fish on the right, now looks more like a Bluegill.  Must be the angle/movement on the left, that fish looks weird, yellow perchy.  But the stripes match those of the fish on the right.

[Matt DeLaVega]

Juvenile blue tilapia. the most cold hardy of the group.

[Isaac Szabo]

Blue tilapia don't have a forked caudal fin, do they?

[butch]

They do looks like a Florida bluegill to me than a tilapia or a cichlid. Issac is correct, blue tilapia has round caudal fin.

[Isaac Szabo]

For those who don't have experience with the Florida Bluegill subspecies, here is a photo of one with strong vertical bars from our Florida trip last February:

 

 

The Florida (AKA Coppernose) subspecies is commonly stocked outside its native range. I found lots of references for them being stocked in Texas, though none specifically for Lake Travis.

[Matt DeLaVega]

Yeah, can't much disagree. Coppernose are highly regarded by pond owners all over, and blue tilapia have just the slightest fork to their tails when juvenile, and none when adult.

[Betta132]

That is a gorgeous fish! And that looks almost exactly like what I was seeing, though they didn't look as shiny, probably due to the murky water. 

[don212]

they are gorgeous, but more so through Isaac's lens

[centrarchid]

This should help to see them a little more clearly:

 

 

What kind of cichlid are you guys thinking of? I don't have much experience with cichlids, but with a quick internet search I couldn't find anything similar to these fish. In fact, most of the species I saw have rounded caudal fins, quite different from the forked caudal fins of these fish.

 

I'm quite confident they are bluegill. The slope of the nape will appear more extreme than it really is with the fish angled away from the camera. The stripe pattern is very similar to Florida Bluegill. Perhaps that subspecies was stocked in the lake?

We need to stop saying bluegill.  That is a Coppernose Bluegill.

[ChrosomusEnthusiast]

Fo

 

Yeah, can't much disagree. Coppernose are highly regarded by pond owners all over, and blue tilapia have just the slightest fork to their tails when juvenile, and none when adult.

There's also that nice spot on the rear part of the dorsal...points even more towards macrochirus