This fish just turned 4 years old. All I can tell you about its genetics is that I bought it from a local hatchery here in MN. The guy told me that it was a cross between bluegill and green sunfish. He keeps some breeder fish in separate tanks and he showed my his GSF and BG stock but I coudn't say anything about how pure a breed they were. Mine are all colored exactly like this but with some a little lighter at times. The light in the picture must have subdued some of the blue coloring since it does have the typical blue bars under the eyes. The series of light spots running in stipes down the sides are actually a little blueish. The bellies can be as bright yellow pumpkinseeds. When they were younger the blue was more pronounced. I stocked the fish when they were 3 months old which was Sept. 2002. I have very dark colored water in my pond which I think tends to make all my fish rather dark colored. If I ever catch a LMB I'll take a picture. They too are almost black on the top with a definite dark olive green color throughout.
