Quote from Shorty:
"I had a hybrid BG that I was sure was a Pumkinseed that would qualify as a new state record in NE. Long story short I took it the NE Game & Parks dept who looked it over really well, they even took it a fisheries specialist at UNL for examination of the gill rakes for confimation of a hybrid. I was told it was a hybrid and the hybrids can and do look different depending on the sex of the cross, I do not remember which one I had but it looked an awful lot like the picture Deb posted of the fish in the tank."
Been there done that! I took in a 1 lbs. 6 oz what appeared to be a pumpkinseed for a taxidermy customer. I took it to a local DNR station to verify it. One biologist said it was a hybrid from 20 feet away as he went into the building without taking a closer look. Two other biolgists keyed it out as a pumpkinseed by the gillrakers etc. Unfortunately because one of them said it was a hybrid only a DNA test would verify if it was truly a pumpkinseed or not. Long story short I had a professor back out of doing a DNA test as he wouldn't answer my phone calls or emails after he said he would do a DNA test.
If it is a pumpkinseed it ties the IGFA world record, if it is a pumpkinseed hybrid it is a new record for a pumpkinseed hybrid. I guess we'll never know.
