5 replies to this topic

[OpJohn]

Hi guys. My name's John and I live in Orange Park, Florida. I have a growing interest in working with native freshwater species and a modest sized workshop for my tanks (30' x 30') that i'm slowly converting over to a fish room. The natives that i'm working with now are bluefin killifish but i've also kept Hederantia formosa (least killifish/livebearer) and different color morphs of St. John's River crayfish. I have a small colony of the bluefins going in a 20 long (2 males, 4 females). I've also kept and bred small micro predators like Scarlet Badis with success in heavily planted neocaridina shrimp tanks (permanent setup breeding). 

 

I have more tank space currently and i'm looking to add an Elassoma genus. I'd be happy with working with any of them but i'd really like to see if I can track down E. evergladi or E. alabamae, but I don't know how realistic that is. I have a bit of a moral dilemma as they are both growing species of concern (much more so in the latter species from Alabama) so I don't want to collect them from the wild for ethical reasons. I'm hoping that somebody here is also keeping/breeding them or has connections to conservation efforts where I might locate some wild stock or F1 generation fish.

 

If you have some pygmys that you're willing to part with, let me know here or email: admin@pet.fish

 

Cheers,

 

-John Harris

[OpJohn]

Looks like Jonah's fish has some.

[Michael Wolfe]

There is no moral dilemma with E. evergladi and in fact, you should be able to collect them yourself in your area (I have done so in the area of the Okenefnokee).  They are great aquarium fish, excellent color and behaviors, breed rather easily and are a lot of fun... just have to keep up with frozen food.

[gerald]

E. evergladei, okefenokee, and zonatum are common and widespread in NE Florida.  The Alabama pygmy was recently listed on the Federal Endangered Species List, so no go on that one.  It's the smallest and least colorful of the six pygmy species, anyway.  There's a guy in the Suncoast Killifish Club that sells several species of tank-bred Elassoma.

[Fred1090]

I know I'm new here, but e Evergladei were my first native fish and I have a small group of 6 with at least 1 male starting to color up that I've removed from my breeding colony and need a home.

Fun little fish! But very shy.

[toyotagillie]

Hii John 

Best of Luck for your this effort..

According to my knowldge the Alabama pygmy were recently listed on the Federal Endanegered Species List. It's the smallest and least colorful of the six pygmy species, anyway.

Two new similar-appearing species of pygmy sunfishes, Elassoma boehlkei and E. okatie, are  the Coastal Plain of North Carolina and South Carolina. Elassoma boehlkei is distinguished primarily by its mode of 13 dark and narrow trunk bars (mean 0.57 mm in width), a wide interbar space, several morphometric measurements, and by its relatively small size. Elassoma okatie is characterized by a mode of 11 dark and wide trunk bars (mean 1.11 mm in width), a narrow interbar space, several morphometric measurements, and by its larger size.