Longear Sunfish Questions

[warmouth]

Thanks for all of the comments. Here is a pic. The pic is not really good.

sorry guy that does not look like a longear to me.....(at least not the kind we have here in the Ozarks), that looks like a redbreast (which i would love to have but is not native to here). Our longears have longer gills,a smaller mouth and much less red orange coloring on the belly. I could be wrong.... you might want to ask sandtiger to make sure.

 

[warmouth]

Not any more than all of the other larger sunfish species. Greens might be the at the top of the mean-heap though.

I agree greens (which I own) and redbreasts would seem to be much more aggressive than longears. Down hear in the Ozarks we have longears in every stream it seems.

 

[WahooWillie]

The fish picture IS a longear.
And just to comment on the aggression -I agree that greens and redbreasts are the 2 most aggressive of the Lepomis. Of course, in captivity, everyone can have an exception.

 

[Noto]

That's a handsome fish! Warmouth- there's a lot of regional variation in longears. Ozark fish are famous for their high red or orange color, while my fish in TN are usually more blue or green, and Gulf Coast fish like the one shown often have that orange belly. There seems to be a widespread suspicion among ichthyologists that the longear is actually a species complex.

 

[oscarcrazy]

nice looking fish, can't tell from those pics if it a record breaker though. Longears can be nasty, I have one in a 150 with some pretty fiesty company and he more than holds his own.