Potomac River MD Longear x Northern strain of the Longear Sunfish

[Fat Boy]

Yesterday I went on a search for some jewels of the Potomac River with a buddy of mine, and we found some stunning male longear sunfish. The latest research seems to show that the Potomac River strain of this fish is actually a cross (genetically) between the longear and Northern sunfish. Regardless of their actual identifcation, the pics are worth sharing.

[Raquettedacker]

They sure are awesome Kevin.
 And good to eat..
Hope all is well…

[taxid]

Look 100 percent Longear (Lepomis megalottis) to me.

Are you sure they didn't mean northern and central longear?

[Fat Boy]

Thanks Dom! Yessir, they're tasty for sure! I'm doing OK. Just bought a new TM and am anxious to try it out. I have it almost fully installed...the tough part is done but I have to wire in some stuff and then figure out how it works LOL. You know it's pricy when it's not just plug and play!

How are you doin'? Looks like you had another great trip this year. Some of the LM are pigs!

[Fat Boy]

Look 100 percent Longear (Lepomis megalottis) to me.

Are you sure they didn't mean northern and central longear?

Yeah, and that's what I always called them, longears. Some guys down here call them Northerns. You can't really tell much by looking at them easily, but there are subtle differences. DNA research puts these at the newest evolutionary subspecies (maybe a species someday) in the longear sunfish complex (and Northern). IMHO, they're all beautiful. Koaw in the video below discusses the findings of the latest research and shows the various strains of the longear complex. It gets really tough IDing them when ranges overlap or, even tougher, when they hybridize with other species.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzft3-Fd8RU&t=6s