Was fishing a local city lake this morning that is managed by the Missouri department of conservation and caught this fish. I didn’t think much about it until I was showing my wife the pictures when I got home but it looked a little different for these waters.
The problem with sunfish is they hybridize so readily and I’d guess that’s what you’ve got there. The outlining on the lower fins would suggest green sunfish, but it’s got the gill coloring and small mouth to suggest a bluegill. Maybe a green/bluegill cross? Are both types present in your lake (they usually are in this region)?
The AZ Game and Fish stock “Sunfish” Hybrids in the local Urban Lakes here. They are a cross between the Bluegill and Green Sunfish.
I don’t understand the logic of it - I would think a good Bluegill population would make more sense. But these things are not able to repopulate properly. The off spring produce something like 90% male so this is supposed to be good!? A put & take Sunfish? I don’t get it but obviously someone thinks it makes sense!
This fish looks very similar and coming from a city lake it could be one of these stocked hybrids.
That looks much like the Hybrid Sunfish I’ve been catching the last few years. I’ve caught them out of almost every pond I fish, even though I KNOW they are NOT stocked on purpose. So, I can only surmise that they are all naturally-occurring hybrids.
They all look the same, and I’ve caught both green sunfish and bluegills from each of these ponds, which seem to be the “parent species” for these hybrids.
Here’s some pictures of the ones I’ve been catching, I’ve caught them up to 9" long so far:
I talked to a biologist friend of mine who said two things:
in a body of water with multiple species of sunfish, about 2% of the population will be hybridized under normal conditions.
The reason a disproportionate number of male offspring is good in some situations is that it reduces the odds of overpopulation and stunting in waters lacking an adequate predator base.