Need better identification!

[MuskieBait]

Just for fun re: the dinner pic from above...

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From bigminnowfisher on SCSF:

Thanks for playing ya'll! Some of you came pretty darn close, and I'm super impressed... and thanks for taking it to a whole new level, Ken! LOL

Anyways, for you ID nuts, heres the pre-mortem photographs of the fish. Let's see if you can get the species ID now!



My fish, on the very right in the dinner pic.



Friend's fish, in the middle in the dinner pic.

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From MuskieBait's response:

I already know the Bluestriped Grunt...what are the two porgies?

It's getting more confusing now with these pictures...

Center head is a Sheepshead Porgy if the horizontal groove on upper lip is indeed present and not a photographic artifact...BUT...the fish also has that characteristic V-shape at the base of the caudal fin...and that bar right across the eye going all the way to the corner of the mouth...which is consistent with Grass Porgy...but head just seems a bit too shallow of an angle to be a Grass Porgy...

Right head is a bit confusing now...Blue line under the eye, enlarged upper canines...that suggests Saucereye...it's the lower enlarged teeth that confuse me...it's 2nd and 3rd tooth for Jolthead...or 3rd and/or occasionally 4th tooth for Saucereye...unless there is some photographic angle hiding teeth somewhere...

My classmate's first fish, on the left in the dinner pic.

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From bigminnowfisher on SCSF:

Glad you pointed out the inconsistencies!

I had seriously thought the center head was a Grass Porgy, until I examined the postmortem pictures. And I was pretty sure the right head was a Saucereye, until I examined the teeth... So I guess it's a lesson that fish don't always follow books! I'm going with the ID that the majority of characteristics point towards though, so thats going to be Grass Porgy and Saucereye.

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Lesson? FishID is not always easy...even with the best available resources...and sometimes the fish may not follow all characteristics, especially where hybrids may exist. This exercise was meant to be a challenge though...and a fun one at that!

Freshwater fish in Ontario is so much easier for most species. When you get to the minnow species, it gets a bit more challenging, but most gamefish species are very easy to identify.