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10 gallon Elassoma evergladei setup

Started by Michael Wolfe , May 03 2014 07:51 PM

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26 replies to this topic

#21 Guest_smbass_*

Guests

Posted 09 May 2014 - 08:46 AM

In nature they seem to live about a year and a half but I too have had them live longer in captivity. Don't think I got 3 out of any but have hit the 2 year mark with some.

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#22 Michael Wolfe

Board of Directors

North Georgia, Oconee River Drainage

Posted 09 May 2014 - 09:50 AM

I think another thing to take into consideration here is that juvenile Elassoma hug the bottom and are really small... two things that means we are all probably catching wild Elassoma that are already 6 months old...

Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing. - Benjamin Franklin

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#23 Guest_WyRenegade_*

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Posted 09 May 2014 - 10:13 AM

If not older - when you catch a wild fish, it can be pretty hard to try and determine the age at time of capture.

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#24 Guest_Dustin_*

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Posted 09 May 2014 - 11:14 AM

The thing that gives away the age for pygmies is that you catch them in various stages throughout the year. In late summer you catch very small juveniles. By fall, you only see adult fish. In late winter, you catch breeding adults. By late spring, they completely disappear. All of the adults have died and the juvies are two small to capture without a very fine mesh.

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#25 Guest_WyRenegade_*

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Posted 09 May 2014 - 04:08 PM

So Dustin they only live a year in the wild? No adults over winter successfully?

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#26 Guest_gerald_*

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Posted 09 May 2014 - 05:05 PM

With zonatum I sometimes catch bigger older-looking ones in late winter/spring that are probably 2-yr olds, but the majority seem to fizzle out before age 2. I suspect habitat plays a role, and would guess that populations living in spring-fed habitats that stay cooler in summer probably have a higher % that survive to age 2 or beyond. Obviously they CAN live longer, since many do in captivity. Age 3 is not too rare for zonatum in captivity.