A few people have asked me what the difference is between bluegill vs sunfish. So I thought it would be good to clear things up a little. The answer is actually very simple…
Bluegill vs Sunfish:
Sunfish refers to a group of fish species. This group includes pumpkinseed, redear sunfish, spotted sunfish, Dollar sunfish and even bluegill. The bluegill is simply one type of sunfish.
Hopefully that answered your question. It can be difficult to tell the difference between bluegill vs other sunfish. If you are still wondering what exactly you caught, here are a few sunfish and how they compare to bluegill.
Types of Sunfish (Lepomis)
As I mentioned above, there are many members of the Lepomis genera (sunfish). I’ll go through a handful of them here, but just know that many of them are so similar it can be pretty difficult to tell them apart.
Bluegill (L. macrochirus)
The bluegill is probably the most popular amongst the sunfish. They are very widespread across the U.S.
Look for their namesake blue spot on the gill covers. Sometimes this will be more black than blue, and most sunfish have a similar spot, but it’s a good place to start.
Bluegill have a lot more blue overall vs other sunfish. They can have brightly colored bellies, especially during the spawn, but their patterns aren’t as extreme as most sunfish.
Redear Sunfish (L. microlophus)
I bet you can guess the reasoning behind the naming of the redear sunfish. Yep… It’s due to the red spot right where you’d imagine the fish’s ear would be if fish had ears. Otherwise they look quite similar to bluegill. They even have the same dark spot on the gill cover.
The colors on the rest of their body can vary quite a bit depending on the time of year, or where you catch them.
Pumpkinseed (L. gibbosus)
Pumpkinseed sunfish have the dark gill of the bluegill, the red ear of the redear, and then a very beautiful color pattern along the sides.
Look for a yellow belly that fades into green on the sides with a dark green back. Some pumpkinseeds will have some really cool fluorescent blue lines along their cheeks similar to some other sunfish.
Spotted Sunfish (L. punctatus)
The overall colors on a spotted sunfish aren’t as extreme as say a redear or a dollar sunfish. However they can be recognized by their distinctive black spots all over their bodies.
The spotted sunfish is more common in the southern US. An interesting fact is that they have a higher tolerance for salt water than other sunfish. So, although they can’t survive straight sea water, they can survive near coastal areas that get a little saltwater mixing with fresh water.
Dollar Sunfish (L. marginatus)
Dollar sunfish are super cool looking! They have more of the florescent blue markings than the other sunfish. They remind me of something you would find while snorkeling a coral reef. But of course, these are freshwater fish.
These fish are definitely on the smaller side as far as sunfish go. But what they lack in size they make up in beauty.
Green Sunfish (L. cyanellus)
All these sunfish are beautiful, but I feel that the green sunfish are up towards the top of the list.
This artists rendering doesn’t quite do it justice. In real life, those turquoise lines in the face and spots going down its sides seem to glow when the sun hits them. They may not have as much of that florescent color as the dollar sunfish, but they come in a close second.
Some other sunfish have these same blue lines in the face such as the pumpkinseed and the redbreasted sunfish so it can be a little tricky to tell them apart.
Orangespotted Sunfish (L. marginatus)
There are a couple of distinct features that help to identify the orange spotted sunfish. Of course, the first is that its sides are covered in orange spots. These are fairly big spots and placed randomly rather than in a certain pattern.
They also have a white outline around the dark spot on the gill cover.
It’s so hard to decide what the most beautiful sunfish is, but this is up there with my favorites! The orange spots are often laid over beautiful florescent sides with a bright orange belly.
Redbreasted Sunfish (L. auritus)
The redbreasted sunfish is obviously named after its beautiful red and orange breast. However, if that’s all you look for, you may get mixed up. Many sunfish have a shade of red, orange, or yellow on the breast.
One thing that is a better identification mark is the black spot on the gill cover. On the redbreasted sunfish, this black spot looks almost like a dab of black paint that has been smeared forwards towards the eye.
Similar to other sunfish, they have some florescent blue on their sides. However its more of a solid patch rather than being arranged in a pattern.
Conclusion
Hopefully it makes sense now how bluegill are just a type of sunfish rather than something separate. Honestly a lot of people get the different types of sunfish mixed up, and sometimes they can be so similar it’s hard to tell the difference. That’s why it’s easier for most anglers just to say they caught some sunfish. With bluegill being so popular and common, some anglers will even refer to any sunfish as a bluegill.
So if you don’t really care, then call them whatever you want. If you enjoy learning to recognize specific species, then I hope this page helped to clear it up a little.
I recommend surfing through the images on Google for specific species, because the more examples you have, the easier it is to recognize them.
Check this post out if you want to learn about my favorite bait and method for sunfish/bluegill
Hope that helps! Have fun out there!
