ID this New Jersey Fish Red Ear or Pumpkinseed?

[John Sheehan]

Caught this dink  today,4/22/12 in a very shallow stream (Ringwood Brook) Took a small worm on a #10 hook. Apparently New Jersey does have Redears but I never caught one before .What do ya think Red Ear (gotta admit it looks like one ) or Pumpkinseed?

 

Redear sunfish (Lepomis microlophus) can grow to 10 inches, and have a long pointed pectoral fin. They

have a black ear flap with a light-colored edge with a bright red or orange spot, and a pointed snout. They

are light gold-green to white-yellow, with dusky gray spots on adults, or bars on the young. Fins are clear.

Pumpkinseed (Lepomis gibbosus) grow to 16 inches, and have a pointed pectoral fin. These fish have a

short, black ear flap with a bright red or orange spot and a light-colored edge. The olive colored sides have

many gold and yellow flecks, with blue-green and orange spots. Many bold dark orange or brown wavy

lines can be found on the fins. Young and adult females have dusky chainlike bars along the sides.

 

 

[John Sheehan]

And yes Dick ,a Female!

[John Sheehan]

Thanks Dwayne .I 'm getting that what I caught is a juvenile Pumpkinseed that in time will show more red on the ear and pseed colors .Thanks guys!

[Dwayne Denison]

John hopes this helps

http://www.tnfish.org/FishIdentificationID_TWRA/TWRA_Sunfish_Identi...

[John Sheehan]

Yes the inches I believe are a typo from the site I copied them from and should be reversed !10 " for a Pumpkinseed and 16 " for a Redear is more like it ,thanks for making me aware Jacob and Jim ! I didn't read the description carefully enough ,I was going more by the image I put up. Here is the link I searched .I agree there is questionable info.

http://jcianci.tripod.com/sunfish.html

[Jacob Hill]

i would say redear. i think you might be backwards on your figures on that a seed grows bigger than a redear. i personally have never caught a seed over 9", but i have caught redears up to 12.5

[Tony Livingston]

Check this out:http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=2... the photos on page 2 are helpful.

I thinks there's a lot of seed' in it, but I'm open to the possibility of something else in the mix.

 

[Jim Gronaw]

Are those highlighted descriptions accurate? Right out of the block, I am guessing the size mentioned are the 'maximum' lengths for these fish, which should be reversed...

Pumpkinseeds grow to 10 inches and ...

Red Ears can grow to 16 inches.

This fish is a juvenile, which makes it tough to get a handle on it. Lack of brilliant coloring, such as found in 'seeds, makes me wonder if it could indeed be a northern red ear!

[John Sheehan]

Dick thats what I thought when I caught this fish and was taking a pic and releasing!

I am coming around to agree Dick and Jeffrey .Thanks for your input!

 

[dick tabbert]

When I first looked at it I said Red Ear but there is distinct blue markings on the jaw which leads me to believe it is a juvenile hen seed.  

[John Sheehan]

Thanks Jeffrey I'll check out more details later .The wavy blue cheek lines and mouth say seed as well to me .Now I'm thinking perhaps really just a juvenile seed that doesnt need to boast bright colors yet ,that's all. Interesting thing is this was up in a low flowing stream and feeding ,very close to the pond it feeds.