Breeding Habits. Similar to those of other sunfishes and bass. 



Food. Chiefly aquatic insects. Dried shrimp with occasional 

 meals of living crustaceans, worms, or liver suffice for an aquarium 

 specimen. 



This species is a little harder to adapt to aquarium life than its 

 mud-pond brethren, but is preferred because of its small size and 

 brilliant colors, and because it is not a game fish. At present non- 

 game fish may be taken and kept without a permit. 



PuMPKiNSEED SuNFisH (Lepomts gibbosus) 



Appearance. This sunfish is another dwarf cousin of the Bluegill. 

 The adult fish is so short, deep, and compressed as to seem disk- 

 shaped. From above the color is olive to grass green, with flecks of 

 green and gold. The sides are peppered with round blotches of dark 

 olive or copper within a rim of dark green. Further down the sides 

 there are streaks of turquoise blue between. The belly is orange 

 yellow. The cheeks are orange with wavy emerald streaks. The flap 

 or ear of the gill cover is small and velvety black except for a 

 posterior spot of scarlet — the identifying mark of this species. The 

 lower fins are orange. 



Size. An adult 200 mm. or more long is a giant of its species. 



Habitat. Small ponds and bays of larger lakes. It seems to have 

 a slightly greater preference for clear water than the Bluegill. 



Breeding Habits. The male, much like other sunfishes, fans out 

 a nest in the bottom in shallow water. This nest may be 75 to 100 



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