Largemouth hybrid?

[andres]

Last weekend I caught what I thought was a pumpkin seed or some kind of sunfish. After taking a closer look at the guy, he looks like his body is similar to a sunfish, but he has the head of a largemouth. Does some sort of hybrid occur naturally?



I may be completely wrong on the ID, I can put pics up later.

[JD7.62]

Probably would be better in the fishing forum.

My guess is that its either a green sunfish or rock bass. Both fish have "sunfish type" bodies but have large heads and mouths.

For the record some black bass do hybridize naturally, usually spottedxsmallmouths.

[andres]

Theres no way for me to move the thread is there? Does a mod have to do it?

Anyways, I caught a few green sunfish with this guy and his head / mouth are much larger for sure. I guess I just really need pics.

EDIT* He does look like a rockbass, but a friend of mine said it was not. Hes much more familiar with natives than me, but that does not mean hes right.

[JPlikewoah]

Yep, they are common. These are called "rock bass".

[Camphilophus]

Yep, they are common. These are called "rock bass".

no, its a hybrid not a rockbass.

heres the only decent picture I have of one I caught, the rest are cell phone quality.
http://a454.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/46/l_ae1a4381eee4d97e0b637d0c09d5247d.jpg

there are hundreds of them in my girlfriends natural pond, I'll get some better pictures next time I go fishing.

[JD7.62]

no, its a hybrid not a rockbass.

heres the only decent picture I have of one I caught, the rest are cell phone quality.
http://a454.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/46/l_ae1a4381eee4d97e0b637d0c09d5247d.jpg

there are hundreds of them in my girlfriends natural pond, I'll get some better pictures next time I go fishing.

Crappy or not can you post more pictures?!

[Camphilophus]

uploaded them anyways!

http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/1095/hybridgt7.jpg
http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/1434/hybrid1na1.jpg
http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/3978/hybrid2bz1.jpg

[Camphilophus]

this is a rockbass.

http://sitemaker.umich.edu/mi.lakes.statustrends/files/rockbass.jpg

My dad says hes never seen these either.

[YOOPER]

Was it this?

nc.water.usgs.gov/.../images/Green.sunfish.jpg

Green sunfish.

[Camphilophus]

picture is not working^^ heres a regular greeunfish.

http://www.tnfish.org/PhotoGalleryFish_TWRA/FishPhotoGallery_TWRA/images/GreenSunfishMeltonHillNegus_jpg.jpg

[catman]

Looks like a warmouth to me, I catch them all the time at a creek by my house.

[Camphilophus]

Looks like a warmouth to me, I catch them all the time at a creek by my house.

not that either:ROFL:

this is a warmouth
http://aquat1.ifas.ufl.edu/guide/fish_3.jpg

the pictures I posted are bluegill X largemouth bass

[andyjs]

My guess would be a warmouth as well, but a side view picture would help.

[JD7.62]

Camp, all of those pictures are of green sunfish.

[BloodThirsty]

I agree. Green Sunfish. I caught several last summer in our lake.

[andyjs]

uploaded them anyways!

http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/1095/hybridgt7.jpg
http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/1434/hybrid1na1.jpg
http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/3978/hybrid2bz1.jpg
That's a green sunfish. For some reason the pics weren't loading last time I saw this thread (gotta love bad wireless signals), so I didn't see the pics in that post

[Camphilophus]

you guys sure..? I catch a ton of these things every time I fish her pond around 9-11" which would be monstrous for bluegill.

[MN_Rebel]

Yeah the green sunfish can reach more than 9 inch long, are they hatchery strain or just wild type green?

[Ctrl_Alt_Dlt]

Its a green sunfish!

[Supes13]

I agree, green sunfish. i catch those things all over. they are very aggressive panfish and will hit on just about anything...good eating too.

[Vicious_Fish]

Looks like a Green Sunfish to me.

[Camphilophus]

Yeah the green sunfish can reach more than 9 inch long, are they hatchery strain or just wild type green?

its a natural occuring pond.

[Gage]

Lepomis cyanellus, aka Green sunfish is what it looks like IMO.

[gangster]

THat is NOT a green sunfish. THat IS a bluegill. See all the bluelines around his gills and the yellow on the tips of his fins. THey have larger mouths than sunfish/perch and they get larger as well. We have those all over the lakes and ponds in CA.

[fivespeed302]

My best guess is that it is a regular green sunfish. The one you caught is probably older than the one in the picture. I'm willing to bet that there are some slight variations in colors/markings from region to region. Pretty fish, and good eating too!

[Jayson745]

I catch those all the time. Usually stick real close or under cover. They dont seem to get very big. I've always been told they were warmouths.

[MN_Rebel]

Pure green sunfish for sure.

[Lepisosteus platyrhincus]

and the blue gill on it???
i have caught these

[unannon]

warmouth is my guess, but im not great with natives.

[Noto]

THat is NOT a green sunfish. THat IS a bluegill. See all the bluelines around his gills and the yellow on the tips of his fins. THey have larger mouths than sunfish/perch and they get larger as well. We have those all over the lakes and ponds in CA.

You've got your species flipped. The blue facial markings and yellow/cream fin edges are typical green sunfish features not found in bluegill. Bluegill also have a smaller mouth and taller body than greens, and a long black opercular lobe (from which the common name comes). Both bluegill and green sunfish reach lengths greater than a foot, with bluegill being a little more massive at a given size.

I agree that the OP's fish is a typical green sunfish. They make good inhabitants in a large tank, kinda like a more active oscar.

[Noto]

Just a note- natural hybrids between various Lepomis sunfish are very common. Natural hybrids between different Micropterus bass are rarer. Hybrids between a Lepomis and a Micropterus exist, but are usually created artificially.

[wiseman82]

Natural hybrids occur between green sunfish, bluegills, pumpkinseeds, warmouths, and any combination of the above, sometimes it is harder to figure out what is not a hybrid as all of these fish naturally occur in the same waters in many parts of the country.

[jonnie5]

sunfish for sure.

[Eoibio]

Hmm nice fish anyways.Looks like a blue spotted sunfish grows to 10cm males and females...

[sandtiger]

The fish in question is a green sunfish (Lepomis cyanellus). Any confusion as far as telling the difference between a green sunfish and a bluegill in concerned can be resolved by reading over these two links...

Green Sunfish
http://www.cnr.vt.edu/efish/families/greensun.html

Bluegill
http://www.cnr.vt.edu/efish/families/bluegill.html

[urbaninja]

definitely a green sunfish.

[shawnhenry]

You would have to help them along if it is even possible. When fish spawn, the eggs have receptors on their surface where the sperm of the same species can attach. This receptor is like the lock on your door: only a specific key can fit in and work to open the egg's vitelline envelope to allow the sperm to enter. Therefore, when a largemouth bass sperm encounters a yellow bass egg, nothing happens because the sperm does not have the suitable surface protein to fit onto the egg's receptor.

Even if you managed to cross-breed the two in a laboratory setting, the offspring would almost certainly be unable to create offsring of their own. The definition of a species is a group of organisms that can mate and produce fertile young. Largemouth and yellow bass are two separate species, so while you may get offspring (and that is not a guaranteed success), they will almost certainly not be able to establish a thriving species. If the two fist were just different breeds of the same species, like a pet dog, then they could reproduce, but largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) and yellow bass (Morone mississippiensis) are not even the same genus, much less species.