Mississippi variety: avg length- 4 inches, fins typically sized for
lepomis, prefers mid water, ground colors reddish, blues very dark
turquoise, mouth is more upturned than the other two, over all is darkly
colored. blues are blotchy and intense, males get a substantial nutial
hump, female very uncolored compared to male, pelvic fin extensions
prominant but not longer than expected for these fish, pelvic fins dark
blue black to deep turquoise, ear is large and fan shaped with thick blue
spots all over it and bright border, would rather feed at the surface.
Atlanitic var.: avg length - nearly 5 inches for males, less for females (
this is true of most of the smaller sunfish actually), fins longer and
higher than typical lepomis, fins held erect more often than not, prefers
surface even though mouth is more under slung than mississippi var. , gound
color is greenish yello, blues are light , fins are almos white /blue.
body has much fewer spangling than other variants, eye appears further
forward than the typical sunfish , male develops moderate hump on head,
females nearly as colorful as male, very long pelvic fin extensions and
very bright blue/white, ear is same width throughut length and doesnt
develop many if any blue specks likes to feed just under the surface to
the bottom.
Pennisular var: avg length- 3.25 inches, no hump on males ( that I have
seen) mottled in appearance, drab background color, blue is medium, male
supposedly turns black when spawning, moderate pelvic fin extensions and
medium blue turquoise, mouth typical of lepomis as are fin size and shape,
prefers bottom layers of water, less round in body shape than other two
var, ear small and narrow.
I have had both the Atlantic and Mississippi varieties for a good time, and
have even had them hybridize ( all babies were gotten rid of except a few
went to someone who whould not mix them with others) but the florida I have
only one male, and am going off of accounts by others. I hope to get a
female and spawn them so I can see the variances in colors and shapes
better.
Hope this tells the story,
Ray
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