It's a hybrid: Surprising DNA results of Illinois-record crappie

It’s a hybrid: Surprising DNA results of Illinois-record crappie

By Dale Bowman

Ryan Povolish with the Illinois-record crappie (either black or hybrid), he caught March 28, 2017 from Kinkaid Lake.
Credit: Les Winkeler/The Southern

It’s a hybrid crappie.

I know a lot of fishermen who will be surprised to find out that DNA analysis indicates the Illinois-record crappie Ryan Povolish caught March 28 from Kinkaid Lake is a hybrid.

Most of us thought the 4-pound, 8.8-ounce fish (18 1/8th inches long, girth of 16 1/4 inches) was a black crappie.

But fisheries chief Dan Stephenson dropped a quick email this morning with the surprising news:

We have confirmation from two geneticists that the new state record crappie is a hybrid. Male white and female black. I received word late yesterday and informed the angler, Mr Povolish. The fish had the appearance of a pure black crappie but that’s why we do the testing. Testing included both nuclear DNA and mitochondrial DNA.

You gotta love science.

Marcus Miller caught the previous Illinois-record hybrid crappie (4.52 pounds) from a Jefferson County farm pond on May 14, 2008.

So John Hampton keeps the Illinois-record black crappie (4-8), which he caught from Rend Lake on May 15, 1976.

Click here for the set-up story on the Povolish’s catch.

Next Up In News

Netflix looks to curb password sharing, considers ads

Aiming to predict COVID, future pandemics better, CDC opens infectious diseases forecasting center

Joliet farmers wrangle cows thrown from semitrailer after crash on Interstate 80

1 killed, 3 wounded in shootings Tuesday in Chicago

Obama relatives sue Milwaukee school alleging racial bias

Unmasked transit: Pritzker ends mask mandates in public transportation, airports