Winter Growth of Bluegills and Bluegill x Green Sunfish Hybrids in Mississippi

Winter growth of young-of-the-year bluegills (Lepomis macrochirus) and male bluegill X female green sunfish (L. cyanellus) hybrids was compared. After 112 days in ponds with a mean afternoon surface water temperature of 10.4 0 C, and under monospecies and bispecies culture conditions, the hybrids were significantly (P < 0.01) longer and heavier than the bluegiIls, outgrowing the bluegills by a ratio of approximately 2: 1.