Lepomis gibbosus

Alternative names

 * Kiver,, , , , ,

Sexing

 * Males are more colourful and aggressive, females plumper with eggs.

Tank compatibility

 * These fish don't make good community fish at all, they will eat smaller fish. If kept with anything, they should be robust and larger than the Pumpkinseed but not overly aggressive.

Diet

 * These fish are carnivores and eat invertebrates, fish, and insects. They quickly convert to thawed frozen foods and commercial diets. Cichlid pellets are a good staple.

Feeding regime

 * Once or twice a day.

Environment Specifics

 * In a tank these fish can be quite destructive as they mature. They are known for tearing up plants, rearranging the tank and can break fragile equipment like heaters or thermometers - these should be kept protected and out of reach of these fish. Being coldwater fish they don't really need heaters anyway, but they will suffer if their water gets warm, a chiller may be in order if you live in a warm climate.

Behaviour

 * Pugnacious and very tough, comparable to many species of Cichlids in behaviour. Sets up a pecking order, the largest female and male getting the best morsels of food and best territory. Can intimidate larger tank mates. Males like to display and fight one another, especially when breeding.

Identification

 * Typical deep body of a sunfish with the standard black/blue opercular spot found on most sunfish of the genus Lepomis. Pumpkinseeds, however, can be distinguished apart from other sunfish by the red mark present at the outside edge of that opercular spot.

Species Note

 * It is illegal to keep this fish in the UK as it will survive in the wild in the UK's climate and therefore is a potentially invasive species.

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