Okeefenokee Pygmy Sunfish (Elassoma. Okeefenokee)

[Xander505]

Alright guys, I'll be getting in some Okeefenokee/Everglades pygmy sunfish in two weeks. Had these little stunning US native fish awhile back, but now got the chance to get some more. For those of you unfimilar with the species here's the specs on these little guys.

This was on the fishbase website, but for some reason the server is down. Here's what it says on AquariumWiki though, the majority of the info is the same on both sites.

Okefenokee Pygmy Sunfish (Elassoma.okefenokee)

Family: Elassomatidae

Difficulty: Moderate

Min. Tank Size: 94.6 Litres/25 US gallons (In the wild males will establish 1 cubic foot of territory. Pairs can be kept in a 5 gallon)

Size: 2.5-3.4 cm (1-1.3")
sg: Freshwater

pH: 6.0 - 8.0 (adaptable, but sensitive)

Temp: 4 -30 °C/ 39.2-86°F (Most prefer cooler water temps around 27 C)

Water Hardness: 6-20 °d

Stocking Ratio: 1:2 M:F

Availability: Rare (countries outside of the States)

Diet Carnivore: Live Foods (can be trained to feed off small pellets and crushed flakes)

Life Span: 3-8 years (longer in captivity)

Habitat: North America/ Florida, Everglade swamps and marshes, streams, Okefenokee Swamp

Here are some pics, these don't belong to me all credited to the photograpers listed in the pics.

Males of this species change colour during breeding or courtship, all though they will remain in their breeding colours if supplied with live food and females haha. Their base black with contrasting metallic/electric blue overlay and trim is what attracted me to these dwarf sunfish.

http://www.ne.jp/asahi/medaka-ken/k.t/gazou/page.top.file/elassoma-okefenokee.sj-04.0.jpg

http://www.thedigitalfishroom.com/Photos/okeM-3.jpg

http://www.aquabid.com/uploads/fwusnative1332611083.jpg

Female on the other hand are pretty drab in colouration, often a translucent tan with black speckles.

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3626/3521745237_a647edc568_z.jpg?zz=1

http://www.thedigitalfishroom.com/Photos/okeF-2.jpg

Male and female together, male in non-breeding colours.
]http://www.aquaculturestore.com/images/P/elassomaokefenokee-01.jpg

 

[lizardminion]

Dang! If only we had snakes like that male pygmy sunfish right there. Best color pairing on the planet!

 

[mmfh]

Wow! Id love to have some of those. Never even heard of them before.

 

[Xander505]

Wow! Id love to have some of those. Never even heard of them before.

Yeah, I'm also surprised there are so little individuals who actually know about this species. They aren't avalible here in Canada so, I'm not surprised, but I would think there would be at least one petstore in my entire city that would know about these dwarf sunfish.
I'm jealous of you though, living in the States you have full access to these stunning little fish every season of the year lol.

 

[Tarac]

Yeah, I'm also surprised there are so little individuals who actually know about this species. They aren't avalible here in Canada so, I'm not surprised, but I would think there would be at least one petstore in my entire city that would know about these dwarf sunfish.
I'm jealous of you though, living in the States you have full access to these stunning little fish every season of the year lol.

I'm very lucky. They are found very commonly just 20 minutes or less from where I am. We also have evergladei, gilberti (which is very similar) and zonatum up here too though not as close by. I only recently discovered the world of diminutive native fish in my area, there are so many more things in the water beyond Gambusia and Flagfish which is the impression you get until you are informed otherwise and know how to effectively survey. I'm now a NANFA member and have a little desk aquarium with a couple pairs of E. okefenokee in it, they are delightful to watch. Very easy to keep and quite beautiful. They can be found in any of the blackwater drainage region in shallow water with thin plants growing in it which is almost everywhere around here. Congrats!

You have a lot of nice small fish up there too. There are more small, attractive fish in cooler water IMO than there are down here although Elassoma are gems so that kind of makes up for it.

 

[bugmankeith]

The males breeding color reminds me of a male Betta, stunning!