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Everglades Pygymy Sunfish Behavior
Thanks Jay!
The article in the Winter (Feb) 1998 (Vol 24 No 1) issue of American
Currents by Mette and Scharpf answered alot of questions regarding
spawning of the Everglades Pygmy Sunfish.
The E P Sunfish is a vegetation spawner. It doesn't make a nest
but the male does protect the eggs. I also observed the sidling threat
and wiggle waggle display as described by Mette and Scharpf. One
interesting thing not described by Mette and Scharpf that I observed
was the appearence of a second male during the actual
spawning. I was watching a pair of E P Sunfish going through the
spawning ritual (male wiggle waggling and female following). The male
led the female into a mass of Java Moss out popped the female from the
moss, out popped the male and then to my and the other males surprise
out popped a second male. The first male did a double take
(really! ;-)) and chased the second male off. I think I've read about
other male fish species doing a sneak fertilization of breeding pairs.
I wouldn't be surprised if the E P Sunfish had similar behavior.
Anybody observed anything similar?
Chris Darrow