I caught these 3 on #8 hook and worm in central Florida. I moved them to a holding tank before releasing them back into the water because I do not want crappie in my bass/bluegill pond. I am having trouble figuring out the species and sub species of these three in particular. Any help would be much appreciated. See pic below.
Hard to tell from the pic but warmouth are often confused and misidentified as rock bass, however, warmouth possess three spines in the anal fin, while the rock bass has five to six spines present in the anal fin. Rock Bass aren't found in Florida.
I can't hazard a guess on fish #1, but I'd say #2 is Coppernose Bluegill vs a Northern Bluegill. (female) going more on the vertical bands and the shape of forehead/head than anything else.
Thanks all. I think the fact that they are juvenile also makes it more difficult. That, coupled with mis-identified fish on google searches can make one's head spin.