Largemouth hybrid?
- Thread starter andres
- Start date
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.
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
Green Sunfish
http://www.cnr.vt.edu/efish/families/greensun.html
Bluegill
http://www.cnr.vt.edu/efish/families/bluegill.html
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.
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.
its a green sunfish. its not a rock bass, its not a blue gill, its not a warmouth!
heres a warmouth i had for alittle bit
heres a warmouth i had for alittle bit
