There have been many comments about hybrid bluegills (bluegill X green sunfish) but not a good discussion. These hybrids are normally 80% or more male and are fertile. They are very brightly colored with bright yellow fins.

Many people have said that their young revert to green sunfish. Is that true? In a pond with only hybrid bluegills, I would think that ¼ of the young would be bluegills, ½ would be hybrids and ¼ would be green sunfish. If left alone, I would think that a continuum would form from pure bluegills to pure green sunfish. What are the facts?

If LMB were added to this pond, would they eat the babies that are shaped more like the green sunfish first? If this happens, does this mean that the hybrids would slowly revert to pure bluegills?

Do the hybrids really exhibit hybrid vigor? That is, do they really grow bigger, faster and are more aggressive than pure bluegills? After many generations, do hybrids still exhibit hybrid vigor? Could someone explain this subject?

If in fact hybrids do grow bigger and faster, do these males dominate the spawning grounds of bluegills? If we have both bluegills and hybrids in our lake, what will we end up with?

Hybrids of bluegills, green sunfish, redear sunfish, pumpkinseeds and other members of the sunfish occur in the wild. Would any of these hybrids have any use in our lakes?

Other than the fact that hybrids don’t have many females, are there any other disadvantages to using hybrids in our lake? Are there any other definitive comments about hybrids?

Norm Kopecky