What is it? Hybrid? Pumpkinseed?

[MNFishhunter]

I'm not sure what this is?

Any id would be great.

[pushbutton]

Probably a gill/seed cross. Don't see a orange mark on the black dot......maybe Andy will chime in.

[Cthulhu]

Definately a hybrid. Gill-seed is probably right, figuring out the parentage of sunfish hybrids can be tough. Every once in a while they aren't sterile either - and they backcross. That can make it really tough at times.

[Scott M]

These questions always come up and the best thing you guys can do is take as many pictures as possible, including especially a look inside the gill rakers with a macro setting on a SLR or the close up setting on a point and shoot.

Lepomis gibbosus x. L. ? (macrochirus or humilis?)

Where you caught it can lend some ideas...

[bobbymalone]

i think it's pretty tough to find a purebred sunfish.

[fisherman-andy]

Impossible to be 100%. My guess is likely gill/pumpkin combo. With pumpkinseeds genes the fish tends to have a brighter, lighter or orange/reddish colors. Or even the red scalet spot gill plate. With the bream or gill/green hybrid the fish is generally dark in color but can still have green stripes without any bright warm colors.

[Cthulhu]

i think it's pretty tough to find a purebred sunfish.

Depends upon where and what species you are talking about. The Twin Cities lakes seem to have lots of hybridization, lakes with less altered habitat have seem to have less hybridization. In less than ideal habitat it seems like Greens and Pumpkinseed cross with each other or with Bluegills pretty heavy.

Finding pure Bluegill Sunfish isn't hard, in general. I know I can find decent numbers pure Green and Orangespotted Sunfish if I look to shallow, murky, stagnant river backwaters. Pure Pumpkinseeds aren't that hard to find in lakes with nice clear water, lush weedbeds, and abundant snails/mussels. Longear/Northern Sunfish aren't hard to find in lakes with firm sand shallows and significant (unaltered) shoreline vegitation, particularily rushes. Warmouth Sunfish aren't very common in MN at all, but I've never come across a hybrid one.

Anyway, rambling, like I said - in the right habitat it isn't hard to find pure Sunfish species...

[BigJakeL]

My guess would be Seed/gill cross too. Interesting!

[tolle141]

Second the seed/gill cross, though that's showing a lot more seed.

EDIT: Actually if you look close there is an orange tip to the black gill spot. I think it may be a pure. Tough to say of course, but she definitely looks a heck of a lot more seed than gill.

Side note on the orangespotted sunnies. There's no state record, so technically if you catch one its a state record.