Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Evaluating and adjusting fish populations RES ID

Pure RES? And what's the 3rd fish

I'll guess the first two are RES and the third one is a BG

I'll guess first is BGxRES cross
Second is pure RES
Third is pure BG

Snakebites guess looks right to me, although I have seen few BGxRES hybrids. Most of my RES hybrids are RESxGSF.

RES information and links to other RES related threads

Everytime I check my trap I find something new I didn't stock.

What you have there are mix bred Panfish with some traits of Bream.

I'm sorry to make light of your identification dilemma, but the fact that these fish can mix breed just kills me. Identification is so difficult with these deep bodied fish once they get mixed. I think that is why I grew up (to the young age of 40 plus) calling everything that came out a pond that was deep bodied and would fit in a frying pan a "Bluegill". Grandpa call them bluegill, Grandad called them sunfish. Does anyone really know once the inner breed?

My guess is there is some GSF genes in your last set of pics, but the rest of their make up...I just don't know, my eye has not been trained thoroughly...yet.

warmouth...excellent fish to catch. Those are decent sized too

Looks like a warmouth cross

Look at the traits and compare.

EFish

Rock Bass, Ambloplites rupestris

Physical Description:
· Compressed, stocky body
· Large, terminal mouth
· Dark-edged anal fin
· Large cheek scales
· Rounded pectoral fin
· Almost straight-edged tail fin
· Red eye
· Olive-brown peppering on body
· 5 anal fins


Warmouth, Lepomis gulosus

Physical Description:
· Deep, compressed body
· Black opercular spot
· Large, terminal mouth
· Large eye
· Tail fin lobes rounded
· Pectoral fin rounded
· Dark stripes on cheek
· Dark mottling on body
· Some mottling on fins

WicFish

Lateral Scales

Bass, Rock 39-43
Bluegill 39-45
Pumpkinseed 38-43
Sunfish, Green 44-51
Sunfish, Longear 34-38
Sunfish, Orangespotted 36-41
Warmouth 36-40

Opercular Flap Color

Bass, Rock Solid dark
Bluegill Solid dark
Pumpkinseed Dark with light spot at tip
Sunfish, Green Dark with light margin
Sunfish, Longear Dark with light margin
Sunfish, Orangespotted Dark with light margin
Warmouth Dark with light margin

Gill Rakers

Bass, Rock 7-10, long and thin
Bluegill 13-16, moderately long
Pumpkinseed 9-12, short and thick
Sunfish, Green 11-14, long and thin
Sunfish, Longear 9-11, short and thick
Sunfish, Orangespotted 10-15, long and thin
Warmouth 9-12, moderately long

Pectoral Fin

Bass, Rock Short, rounded
Bluegill Long, pointed
Pumpkinseed Long, pointed
Sunfish, Green Moderately long, rounded
Sunfish, Longear Short, rounded or blunt point
Sunfish, Orangespotted Long, rounded or blunt point
Warmouth Moderately long, rounded

Pigment Pattern on Sides and Soft Dorsal Fin

Bass, Rock Sides brown solid color or with dark mottling or many indistinct spots; fin mottled and/or spotted
Bluegill Sides dark or silver blue or bluish-olive, solid color or with dark vertical bars, sometimes fine irregular dark blue spots; fin solid, often with large diffuse spot at base
Pumpkinseed Sides olive or yellow-olive, with many irregular yellow-orange spots or blotches and sometimes faint vertical bars; fin solid or faint spots/mottling
Sunfish, Green Sides yellow or blue-green, with solid color, dark mottling, faint light spots or faint dark bars; fin dusky, spotted or with dark blotch at base
Sunfish, Longear Sides dark bluish-olive, with solid color or light irregular spots or blotches/mottling; fin solid or faint spots/mottling
Sunfish, Orangespotted Sides blue or gray, with occasional irregular orange spots, faint diffuse vertical bars; fin solid or faint spots/mottling
Warmouth Sides yellow-brown or olive with dark mottling, faint spots or faint bars; fin mottled and/or spotted

Other Characteristics

Bass, Rock 5-7 anal spines; 9-11 anal rays
Bluegill Opercular flap slightly elongated in large adults
Pumpkinseed None
Sunfish, Green Rarely a few teeth on tongue
Sunfish, Longear Opercular flap greatly elongated in adults
Sunfish, Orangespotted Opercular flap often elongated in adults; large sensory pores above lip; 8-9 anal fin rays
Warmouth Well-developed supramaxillary bone; teeth on tongue

Similarity Index

Bass, Rock Small juveniles very similar, adults moderately similar
Bluegill Moderately similar
Pumpkinseed Moderately similar
Sunfish, Green Moderately similar
Sunfish, Longear Moderately similar
Sunfish, Orangespotted Moderately similar
Warmouth N/A

I'm not familiar with either fish but found this information.

"Both rock bass and warmouth have reddish eyes, especially noticeable in freshlycaught rock bass. To tell them apart, remember that the rock bass has five (or more) spines in its anal fin, while the warmouth and green sunfish have only three." found here

Dark spots radiating from the eye. Warmouth artist conception

Rock Bass comparison -------- Warmouth

Rock bass, warmouth, goggleye, when it comes to eating sunfish for dinner, this is my favorite. The meat is sweet tasting. May is when I make my rock bass fishing trips on Caddo Lake. A worm and bobber as close as you can get to a Cypress tree or a group of Cypress tree knees.

Rock bass, warmouth, goggleye, when it comes to eating sunfish for dinner, this is my favorite. The meat is sweet tasting. May is when I make my rock bass fishing trips on Caddo Lake. A worm and bobber as close as you can get to a Cypress tree or a group of Cypress tree knees. Knocking on wood is what we call it. I think they spawn in the knees of the cypress.