This looks similar.....

by RayLee, Wednesday, June 18, 2025, 07:35 (9 days ago) @ Jimmy P.

https://www.koaw.org/bantam-sunfish

but the habitat range map is quite a bit to the west. Probably impossible to know for sure. This one is not much bigger than your thumbnail but it is by far the most active of this group in the aquarium.

They'll soon be going back to their home three minutes from here or else to the pond I stock. I may try to keep the two of this particular variety but they look so much different in the dipnet when transferring from aquarium to bucket. There is also a tiny green that is so small I would have never had been able to hook it but for the green's proportional larger mouths.