Identify Any Common Sunfish | Koaw's Guide to Sunfishes (Lepomis)

Do you know if you’re catching dollar or longear? Redear or pumpkinseed? Warmouth or green? This fish identification guide focuses on the key features that distinguish each fish within the genus Lepomis. We call these fishes lepomids or common sunfishes. As of 2021, there are 13 recognized species of common sunfishes: The bantam sunfish, bluegill, green sunfish, orangespotted sunfish, redspotted sunfish, spotted sunfish, northern sunfish, dollar sunfish, pumpkinseed, longear sunfish, warmouth, redbreast sunfish and redear sunfish. We’ll also discuss the coppernose bluegill or Florida bluegill subspecies (Lepomis macrochirus purpurascens).

This KNFS identification guide will compare common sunfishes against other species from other genera like the black basses (largemouth bass and smallmouth bass), as well as crappies, and other fishes. Then we’ll look at the key morphological features to examine on lepomids: Pectoral fin, mouth and jaw size, opercular flap or ear flap, eye color, upper lip color, body spots color, blotch in the second dorsal fin, and the gill rakers.

😄 Care to Support KNFS? ► https://www.koaw.org/support

🐟 KNFS Webpage ► https://www.koaw.org/fishingsmarts

Sister Channel - Koaw Nature ►    / koawnature  
Koaw Nature Webpage ► https://www.koaw.org

PROMISED LINKS:
SUNFISH GUIDE ► https://www.koaw.org/sunfishes
SUNFISH CHEAT SHEET ► https://www.koaw.org/sunfishcheatsheet
How to look at GILL RAKERS ►    • How to Examine Gill Rakers in Your Fish  
Hot to count RAYS & SPINES ►    • How to Count Fin Rays and Spines in S...  
Greengill Hybrid Video ►    • Greengill Hybrid Sunfish Identificati...  
Hybrid ID Walk-Through ►    • How to Identify Hybrid Sunfishes | Ko...  
Warmouth ID Video ►    • Warmouth (Lepomis gulosus) Identifica...  
Basic Anatomy of Sunfishes ►    • Anatomical Features (Body Parts) of S...  

#fishing #fish #sunfishguide

Chapters
0:00 Intro/Photos Needed
1:54 Genus Basics
3:14 Genus vs Genera
6:43 Guide Setup
7:59 Pectoral Fin
11:02 Mouth/Jaw Size
13:09 Ear Flap/Opercular Flap
17:03 Eye Color
19:12 Upper Lip Color
21:40 Spots on Body
23:13 Dorsal Blotch
23:44 Rakers
25:05 Unique Features