Green Sunfish/Warmouth Hybrid

[MinnowMagnet]

I am still pretty sure its not, only time will tell. I might belive youu if you can find a pic of a warmouth that looks like mine

 

[ShadowBass]

I am still pretty sure its not, only time will tell. I might belive youu if you can find a pic of a warmouth that looks like mine

If you look at pics of Warmouth on google you'll notice they don't all tend to look the same, especially in the juvenile stage.

Yours could be a hybrid, but the reason people are saying pure warmouth is your picture doesn't show hybrid traits; it does however show all the traits of a plain old warmouth.

Even in a specific waterway you can find small variations in color pattern and shape. Fish in a specific area could all look similar, but if a fish with a little different look is introduced somehow (even migrating from another part of a lake) it can change the look of some of the fish you catch in that area.

That's why Ichthyologists identify fish more by fin ray count, area caught, and other specific traits rather than just color and shape.

Warmouth are very variable and can be mistaken for other fish in some cases. I've caught one warmouth while out fishing and then caught another in the same spot and neither looked the same. Warmouth will especially tend to change looks a bit while maturing (as do lots of sunfish). This is why many people have trouble 100% I.D.ing sunfish as juveniles, especially from pics.

Many people have posted supposed hybrids on here and once the fish matures it's obviously one species. So excuse some of us for being skeptical . Unless it's caught from an area where hybrids are pretty common it tends not to be.

 

[MinnowMagnet]

there are many bluegill/green hybrids there, but around here this small lake is the only place for over 100 miles with warmouth

 

[Great Basin Benji]

here is a pic of a full grown GSF/Warmouth hybrid

THIS looks like a straigh up Pumpkinseed to me... I wouldn't bet the weiner dogs on it, but am almost 99% certain that THIS particular fish is a P-Seed...

 

[Mr.Catfish]

If it is any kind of hybrid it's a pumpkinseed x green sunfish.

 

[Fishcrunch]

After looking at the picture more, I'm going with a warmouth now.

 

[bjbass]

Is this a pumpkinseed?

 

[Mr.Catfish]

A warmouth lines on it's cheeks are not blue but alternating light and dark.

 

[MinnowMagnet]

i still have him and he is bigger and i still think he's a warmouth x green sunfish

 

[critter_bob]

This is in response to the photo in post #s 34 & 37. The photo in post # 34 is NOT a pumpkinseed. The mouth is too large, the opercular flap does not have a red spot on it, and the overall shape of the fish is too elongate.

The photo in #37 is a pumpkinseed.

As to the original question, I would agree that the overall coloration of the fish in the very first picture does suggest that the fish is a hybrid. The colors are more vivid that those that normally appear in warmouth.