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Need Help Identifying Juvenile Sunfish


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#1 Suzanne

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Posted 10 November 2018 - 04:43 PM

Hi all,

I am located in upstate western New York near Naples NY. I collected this little sunfish accidentally from my backyard pond when getting plants and water to get Daphnia and Cyclops for my minnow, I discovered him in the bucket back at my house so put him in with my minnow. It has very little color yet and is only just beginning to not be completely see through. It is about 3/4 of an inch (2 cm)  long. I am not familiar enough with juvenile sunfishes to be able to identify the specific kind. I am used to catching ones that are at least a couple inches long and have all their color, this little guy is smaller than the hooks I use! Hope my photos are some help, he won't stay still for long so I have to get the photos fast.

Thanks for any help.

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#2 centrarchid

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Posted 10 November 2018 - 05:52 PM

Looks like a Green Sunfish Lepomis cyanellus.


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#3 Jconte

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Posted 10 November 2018 - 06:16 PM

Great pictures, Suzanne! I will defer to centrachid and I can see the Green Sunfish in him/her. Definitely not a Pumpkinseed as I suggested previously.



#4 Suzanne

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Posted 10 November 2018 - 06:56 PM

Looks like a Green Sunfish Lepomis cyanellus.

Thanks so much! I looked up about green sunfish and they do look like this little guy, especially the longer body and bigger mouth compared to bluegills or pumpkin seeds. I also saw that the green sunfish have some iridescent blue just like this little one. I have never caught a green sunfish but do see that they are in my area on maps.


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#5 Suzanne

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Posted 10 November 2018 - 07:07 PM

Great pictures, Suzanne! I will defer to centrachid and I can see the Green Sunfish in him/her. Definitely not a Pumpkinseed as I suggested previously.

Thanks, you should have seen the setup to get those photos, I propped my camera tripod up over my sink (tank is on the counter by my sink) and then used an eye dropper to tempt him over in front of the camera and pushed the camera with my left hand while squirting little droppers full of tasty cyclops into the tank!  :biggrin: And still it was moving around too fast for me to get really clear shots! These things are speedy little fish! Thankfully I didn't drop my camera into the sink with the dishes  :tongue:


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#6 Jconte

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Posted 10 November 2018 - 07:32 PM

Lol, well you did a great job and now you know it is a Green Sunfish  :biggrin:



#7 JasonL

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Posted 10 November 2018 - 09:11 PM

Download the Fishes of Tennessee book online for free. Then check out page 405 for your juvenile sunfish fix.

#8 Suzanne

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Posted 11 November 2018 - 08:12 AM

Download the Fishes of Tennessee book online for free. Then check out page 405 for your juvenile sunfish fix.

This book is awesome! Thanks for recommending it!

Anyone know if NY has anything similar?

I've Googled all kinds of stuff about fish ID etc. And only ever find things for other states. Michigan and Tennessee seem to come up a lot in searches for anything related to wildlife.
All the best Experts were Beginners who didn't give up.

#9 dsuperman

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Posted 11 November 2018 - 08:43 PM

  Hi , try    :unsure:   NYSDEC



#10 Suzanne

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Posted 11 November 2018 - 08:57 PM

Hi , try    :unsure:   NYSDEC

Hi, yeah I've tried their site but, besides it beeing an endless rabbit hole of links, it is mostly just short descriptions with a pretty picture and a map showing documented sites of catches. The NYSDEC does not seem to have any links to books or webpages that give detailed identification information and key differences between commonly confused fishes that are similar.
I'm going to try my local libraries to see what they have available.
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#11 lilyea

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Posted 11 November 2018 - 09:42 PM

This book is awesome! Thanks for recommending it!

Anyone know if NY has anything similar?

I've Googled all kinds of stuff about fish ID etc. And only ever find things for other states. Michigan and Tennessee seem to come up a lot in searches for anything related to wildlife.

 

1) "Atlas of Inland Fishes of New York" by Carlson, Daniels, & Wright, 2016

 

http://www.nysm.nyse...nlandfishes.pdf

 

2) Website: "Inland Fishes of New York" by Kraft, Carlson, & Carlson, 2006

 

http://www2.dnr.corn...du/cek7/nyfish/

 

3) Also available at online booksellers - "The Inland Fishes of New York State" by Smith, 1986

 

Enjoy!



#12 Suzanne

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Posted 12 November 2018 - 01:36 PM

Thanks I'll check for that second one in the local libraries. I downloaded the Atlas of inland fishes.

Edited by Suzanne, 12 November 2018 - 01:37 PM.

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#13 Fleendar the Magnificent

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Posted 21 November 2018 - 08:28 PM

Nice little "Greenie". I have 2 of them in my tank and they're very sociable fishes. I got them when they were 1" long and they adapted to tank life very well. They like flake food but you have to get them on it while very young. They also like Mysis shrimp and blood worms. Wait until it gets somewhat older and it's body colors develop as do their personality as they get to "know" you. They'll come to the front of the tank when it's feeding time. When I had them as the only fish in the tank, when I'd get home from work, they'd see the door open and wait for me at the front of the tank. They're an intelligent and beautiful fish. Here's my 3" fish as of Oct 1st.

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#14 Suzanne

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Posted 22 November 2018 - 08:47 AM

Nice little "Greenie". I have 2 of them in my tank and they're very sociable fishes. I got them when they were 1" long and they adapted to tank life very well. They like flake food but you have to get them on it while very young. They also like Mysis shrimp and blood worms. Wait until it gets somewhat older and it's body colors develop as do their personality as they get to "know" you. They'll come to the front of the tank when it's feeding time. When I had them as the only fish in the tank, when I'd get home from work, they'd see the door open and wait for me at the front of the tank. They're an intelligent and beautiful fish. Here's my 3" fish as of Oct 1st.

That's so cool! Your fish is beautiful!
My little one is very friendly already, I think because it was so tiny it learned really quickly to associate me with breakfast and dinner time. He comes to the front and watches me get the food, and watches me when I do dishes too, lol!
I just put some more plants in the other day, and have been putting extra Cyclops and daphnia in where the fish don't see me doing it, so they can survive long enough to hide in the plants. Now the fish hunt through the plants during the day carefully sneaking through and plucking of little tasty snacks every once and awhile. It's so cute!
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