Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Types of fish to choose Hybrid bluegills

Norm - I cannot add any more specifics to your hybrid topic than Dr. Dave has provided.

Here is one experience about one of your questions.
Ref: LMB eating babies shaped like gsunfish first & do hybrids slowly revert to bgill. I have had some expeience with this in a small 1/4ac pond with natural production of hybrids (bluegill - gsunfish cross). Initially there was a spawn that produced numerous hybrid bgills. I will call this spawn F1. This F1 group grew pretty fast compared to the same age (year class) bgills (guessing 15%-30% faster). When F1's were about 2 yrs old the LMB population was supplimented with 10-13 fish 8"-10". Harvest of some hybrids for table use began when they were 8"-8.5".

All green sunfish whenever caught were removed. After ten yrs now, most panfish caught appear to be bgill. Rarely are greenies caught and 5%-10% of the panfish caught are what look like to have some hybrid markings.

Keep in mind: pond is small rectangle shaped 1/4 ac., one end slopes to shallow, sides steep 3:1, 8 ft deep, low weed growth due to white amur, 8 -12 channel cats also present now 18"-24", bass never harvested (unless bleeding). Predators seemed to have heavily cropped the greenies thus lowering production of future F1's. Selective harvest of hybrids lowered frequency of backcrossing. All Young panfish get pretty heavy predation. Bgill "SEEM" to have a tendency to often breed true ie bgill to bgill. Reproductive isolation due to behavior probably plays a big role here. Panfishes in this pond with some human management or intervention seem to be reverting to a bluegill dominated pond.

Note: I think the hybrid fish capable of reproduction only belong in private waters with no overflow to streams or in waters not connected to streams or rivers. Hybrids capable of reproducing when mixed in with our natural fish populations of public water will cause the fishery resource and gene pool to deteriorate and compromise the quality of our natural fishes. Thus when "science" needs purebreed fish for some reason they become difficult if not impossible to locate.

Nature has numerous built in features that prevent hybrids in nature. BUT, nature is not perfect. Natural production of fish hybrids in nature usually results when two different species happen to be spawning in close proximity and sperm from one species drifts into the area of another species' spawning site. Very rarely do two different species in the wild intentially interbreed. Often if they do the genetics of egg and sperm are not compatable and embryo does not form or it soon dies or is deformed and survival is very short in the wild. Survival of the fittest.