The pumpkinseed (Lepomis gibbosus) is one of the most beautiful coldwater fishes. Moreover it has a very interesting behaviour. The species originates from central parts of the North American continent. The continental climate (hot summers, cold winters) makes the pumkinseed a hardy fish and so it was transferred by humans to many regions as a foodfish. To Europe it was brought around 1880 for the first time. Since then it became a native fish in Europe but was not able to settle over the whole continent.
Nowadays the pumkinseed is blamed as an unwanted and useless species in Europe. In its natural habitat the fish grows up to 25 cm, but in Europe it stays small. How come? Indigenous North American populations of the pumkinseed serve as food fish for many predators. The strategy of the pumkinseed is a a very high reproduction rate. In Europe these predators are missing what leads to a mass-reproduction and the fish stay dwarfish. This phenomenon is also known from other fish species. The perch (Perca fluviatilis) also becomes dwarfish where predators are missing. And so the pumpkinseed usually grows only up to 5-10 cm in Europe.
In aquaria the fish can become much older than in nature. Like all fish the pumkinseed can grow its whole live through and so aquarium specimens can grow to a captial size. In the garden pond, on the other hand, they usually stay small (around 15 cm). With growing age the adaptability to changes in the enviroment lessenes and so most pumkinseeds die at the age of around 5 years due to weatherchanges or something similiar. It is wise to buy small individuals (4-5 cm) as their adaptability is high and they easily adopt to live in the new environment.
The garden pond for pumkinseeds should contain shallow parts with fine sand. Good growth of submerged plants is also important for the fish. Clear and clean water ist preferred. Pumpkinseed are small preators which feed on insect larvae, amphibian larvae, small fish and so on. They can be fed easily with frozen bloodworm, but will almost ever refuse dried food.
Males become bigger than the females and are more colourful. A pairbinding is not known in the species, the male will readily mate with any females that will come around. The males defend territories where they take care of the brood until the fry swims free.
For our customers: the animals have code 882500 on our stocklist. Please note that we exclusively supply to the wholesale market.
Photo: B. Migge / Aqualog archieves
Text: Frank Schäfer
| Angaben zum Tier | |
|---|---|
| Herkunft | Nachzucht / bred |
| Verfügbare Größe in cm | 3-5 |
