Quote Originally Posted by Fishfishwish View Post
Do straight-up redears have the blue rays in the area under the eye and behind the mouth?
After looking at many pictures and the zoologist description I believe they are just one of many types of redear sunfish that can have different appearances, the one below typical:
REDEAR SUNFISH (LEPOMIS MICROLOPHUS)

  • Small mouth relative to body size
  • Upper jaw extends to the front of the eye
  • Dark opercular flap with red to orange margin color
  • Inflexible opercular flap
  • Brown spotting forming a mottled, or checkered, pattern
  • Pectoral fins are elongated, reaching past the eye when folded forward


LONGEAR SUNFISH (LEPOMIS MEGALOTIS)


  • Upper jaw extends to the center of the eye
  • Blue to teal stripes extend form mouth to opercular flap
  • Flexible, dark opercular flap with thin red or white margin
  • Pectoral fins are short and do not reach the eye when folded forward
  • Males can have blue to teal dorsal fins
  • Very small mouth


Green sunfish are different than most sunfish and may also have teal stripes from mouth to flap

  • Relatively large mouth (closer in proportion to a lm bass)
  • Lower jaw extends to the middle of the eye
  • Opercular flap is black with white margin tipped in yellow, orange or red
  • Pectoral fin is short and rounded
  • Pectoral fin does not reach beyond the eye