Sunfish ID help - pictures and video

[AutumnEffect]

I added a new sunfish to my empty 40B. It's a 3.75" male sunfish of some sort caught in a minnow trap on Monday. He was going to be used as flathead catfish bait, but I asked the guy if I could have him and another one instead. I want to say he is a Green sunfish in breeding colors. Is this correct?

I also have 3 small sunfish in a 20L until I decide what to do with them. The largest is maybe 2.5" and the smallest is 1.5". The largest and smallest were caught in the same place at the same time last year, and the middle one was caught at the same place as the larger sunfish in the 40B. The largest and smallest have really large eyes compared to the middle one. They also have much larger/longer fins. Does anyone have any ideas on ID?

Here are pictures of the larger fish in the 40B:














Video of larger fish in 40B:

[video]http://youtu.be/kmos_ekYjNQ[/video]

[video=youtube;cYwMpiLn6b4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYwMpiLn6b4[/video]

[video=youtube;geqg3h-tQ9g]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=geqg3h-tQ9g[/video]

[video=youtube;Xj6ptFkSDxQ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xj6ptFkSDxQ[/video]


Here are two videos of the smaller sunfish:

[video=youtube;dFfd-7SKjVs]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFfd-7SKjVs[/video]

[video=youtube;P_oancdXvnw]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_oancdXvnw[/video]

Thanks for any insight on what kind of sunfish these are!

 

[fisher12889]

Green sunfish

 

[jvai]

I would have to disagree with you,

either long ear sunfish or blue spotted

or possible
Long ear sunfish x Blue spotted sunfish hybrid

 

[Noto]

The larger fish is definitely a green. The elongate body, large mouth, blue spangles on the cheek, white edges of the lower fins, and dark spots in the posterior bases of dorsal and ventral fins are all typical green sunfish characteristics. I won't venture an opinion on the little guys- they're tough to ID at that size, at least for me.

 

[Spazzoni]

Large one is a Green Sunfish. Smaller ones I have no idea. The top one appears to be a Green as well but, very hard to tell at that age.

 

[WahooWillie]

Agreed - The larger is a green sunfish. The smaller fish are hard to tell, especially the one in the first video. However, in the second video one of those little guys is definitely a bluegill. The one with those big eyes is much harder to tell, but when pausing the video, those huge eyes and relatively large mouth screams warmouth to me. What do you guys think?

 

[Dreamsofpeace54]

the small one with small eyes in the second vid of the babies is either a bluegill or a pumpkinseed or something so their body shapes. i use sunfish for catfish bait and collect alot of little guys that look like those and bluegill and pumpkin seed and the only species in the area. the big eyed ones definitly look like warmoutg or something similar grow them up and post more pics for definitie ID

Large one is 100% green sunfish, one of the best flathead baits there is

 

[AutumnEffect]

Thanks guys! I appreciate all the ID help.

I've been told that small sunfish are the best flathead bait by lots of people, and there are places around here with plenty of small sunfish to choose from. Never actually seen anyone catch a flathead this way, but maybe I'm just out at the wrong times watching the wrong people. LOL. Once I saw the color on the large fish, I had to have him. I realize he won't always look like that (breeding season and all), but he seems like he will be a good aquarium fish. He won't take pellets yet, but when he hits a cricket on the surface it is really cool to watch. I may try and get him some large shiners (golden or common) as tankmates/dithers. When I upgrade tanks, I may look into upgrading big enough for a small catfish species. We'll see.

I will grow the smaller guys out for sure, if nothing else but to ID them before finding a suitable pond. The ones with big eyes are very cool and are not scared of me at all. They come right up to the glass or surface to look at me (hoping I have food I'm sure) and will poke around at my hands during WCs.


Oh, one other question. Do Greens cohabitate with Bluegills or Pumpkinseeds? I ask because the Greenie and the middle size small fish were caught in the same minnow trap at the same time. I was under the impression that it was pretty much a tie between Greens and Bluegill for Most Aggressive Sunfish Species, and would have thought they'd stick to themselves.

 

[fisher12889]

IME greens are generally more aggressive than most other sunfish. They can be kept together, but I've found it works best if the greenies are a little smaller than the other fish.

 

[Spazzoni]

Thanks guys! I appreciate all the ID help.

I've been told that small sunfish are the best flathead bait by lots of people, and there are places around here with plenty of small sunfish to choose from. Never actually seen anyone catch a flathead this way, but maybe I'm just out at the wrong times watching the wrong people. LOL. Once I saw the color on the large fish, I had to have him. I realize he won't always look like that (breeding season and all), but he seems like he will be a good aquarium fish. He won't take pellets yet, but when he hits a cricket on the surface it is really cool to watch. I may try and get him some large shiners (golden or common) as tankmates/dithers. When I upgrade tanks, I may look into upgrading big enough for a small catfish species. We'll see.

I will grow the smaller guys out for sure, if nothing else but to ID them before finding a suitable pond. The ones with big eyes are very cool and are not scared of me at all. They come right up to the glass or surface to look at me (hoping I have food I'm sure) and will poke around at my hands during WCs.


Oh, one other question. Do Greens cohabitate with Bluegills or Pumpkinseeds? I ask because the Greenie and the middle size small fish were caught in the same minnow trap at the same time. I was under the impression that it was pretty much a tie between Greens and Bluegill for Most Aggressive Sunfish Species, and would have thought they'd stick to themselves.

All sunfish can coexist in their habitat with climate considerations. It is common to pull a green, a blue, and a pumpkin from the same small creek hole. Though in the wild we are talking thousands of gallons of water and large dimensions compared to a tank.

In aquariums all sunfish will be aggressive unless over stocked. Greens are the more aggressive of the sunfish and do well with bigger blues or pumpkins.