Panfish ID Help

[snagged in outlet 3]

14 minutes ago, tjm said:

I'll  make a guess that red iris might be due to diet, or to one fish being more nocturnal than another. In our eyes purple pigment is said to help us see in the dark and there are claims that minerals in our diets can change our irises appearance or "color".  Red irises could also be lack any pigment and blood vessels showing, again possibly diet related.

Some youngun ought to  do a thesis or dissertation on fish eye color.

What if I caught them one right after the other in the same place at relatively the time??

[fishinwrench]

1 hour ago, snagged in outlet 3 said:

I thought red lips were due to cold water temps??

I don't think cold blooded creatures get frost bite.  

Do fish even have capillaries in their lips?  I guess they must have or else their lips couldn't get red.   

[snagged in outlet 3]

6 minutes ago, fishinwrench said:

I don't think cold blooded creatures get frost bite.  

Do fish even have capillaries in their lips?  I guess they must have or else their lips couldn't get red.   

I’m not an armchair biologist like you. It’s just what I heard at one time or another.  😂

[fishinwrench]

1 minute ago, snagged in outlet 3 said:

I’m not an armchair biologist like you. It’s just what I heard at one time or another.  😂

The armchair biologist says that red lips are from kissing bump boards. 😂

[snagged in outlet 3]

1 minute ago, fishinwrench said:

The armchair biologist says that red lips are from kissing bump boards. 😂

That explains one thing I noticed 😂

[fishinwrench]

Just now, snagged in outlet 3 said:

That explains one thing I noticed 😂

Their always short? 

[snagged in outlet 3]

3 minutes ago, fishinwrench said:

Their always short? 

I use that board as a pee ramp.😂

[fishinwrench]

10 minutes ago, snagged in outlet 3 said:

I use that board as a pee ramp.😂

Oh yeah!!!!   🤣😂😅

[Al Agnew]

Guys, the red eye thing on bass is the same as their body color changes.  The same individual fish can have red eyes or dark eyes.  The red pigment in the eyes is always there, but is often obscured by the pigment cells called melanocytes, which have inclusions of pigment that expand and contract.  If they expand the cell turns dark, and in the eyes, the dark cells obscure the red pigmented cells.  If they contract, the red shows.  Most of the time but certainly not all the time, red-eyed smallmouth are light in color overall.  You see the red eyes more in the winter, when the fish are often light and brassy in color.  Why?  My theory is that the gravel bottom is much cleaner in the winter as the algae that covers it in the summer dries up, so the bass turn lighter to blend into it.  The melanocytes in the eyes just "go along" with the rest of the melanocytes over the body.  But the cells can operate in groups instead of all over the body, hence the vertical bars and other markings showing up strongly at times and not showing up at all at other times.  I've often wondered if the bass have any conscious control over their pigment cells, or do the cells react to stimuli without the bass having control of it.

[fishinwrench]

Yay!   I knew if I held out long enough that somebody else would type all of that out so that I didn't have to.  😊 

How about the red lips, Al?   Have you got time for that one too?