Wow! I thought I had a
pretty good handle on the various sunfish species in the U.S. And yesterday I discovered a handful MORE
that I definitely wasn't familiar with.
Some look similar to other panfish, but aren't just a "local
name"....they are actually recognized as separate species.
Rather than just post the ones that were "new to
me", I thought I would try to compile a comprehensive list of panfish in
the U.S., along with a picture (if I can find one). Bass are in the Sunfish family, but I'm not
going to include those here.
In Iowa, we have a good opportunity to encounter 9 of these
species. There are a total of 26 of
these non-bass sunfish!
I'll start with the ones most of us already know, and work
into the less well known ones.
Bluegill:
Green Sunfish:
White Crappie:
Pumpkinseed Sunfish:
Rock Bass:
Warmouth (not my photo):
Orangespotted Sunfish (not my photo):
Longear Sunfish (not my photo):
Northern Sunfish (not my photo):
Redbreast Sunfish (not my photo):
Redspotted Sunfish (not my photo):
Pygmy Sunfish (not my photo):
Bluespotted Sunfish (not my photo):
Dollar Sunfish (not my photo):
Mud Sunfish (not my photo):
Banded Sunfish (not my photo):
Bantam Sunfish (not my photo):
Sacramento Perch (not my photo):
Roanoke Bass (not my photo):
Ozark Bass (not my photo):
Shadow Bass (not my photo):
Hybrid Sunfish occur frequently in nature. There are many different potential hybrids!
Here’s some pictures of Hybrids I’ve caught:
(Presumed) Bluegill x Pumpkinseeds:
Not sure what these might be….
The vertical barring and operculum on this one are
especially perplexing:
I believe these are all Bluegill x Green Sunfish hybrids:
Based on the cheek markings on the one below…this one could
be a non-spawning Redear, or maybe a backcrossed Redear x Bluegill. I dunno….
Bluegill x Redear:
