Just a little one

[alanhill]

This is a male Everglades pygmy sunfish, Elassoma evergladei. We have four males in an unheated tank with some Heterandria formosa (which we usually call Mosquito fish in the UK).

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v322/alanhill/Other%20Fishes/EvPygSun.jpg

I think they are fantastically beautiful and interesting fishes - and I really like this shot. But I am beginning to wonder if my judgement is biased by my affection for this species. Am I losing my objectivity in my old age? Critical comments are welcome.

Alan

[hir0]

no Alan, this is a good shot. And a very unusual looking fish. My only complaint is that the background blends a little to well with the tail of the fish. Thanks for this one.

[Willy wombat]

What an interesting species! A very nice shot - My only critical comment is the two emergent plant fronds below the pelvic fin are aranged in a way that give me a little bit of a distraction from the subject. Im not sure why - perhaps because they line up witht he pelvic fin?

[paradise]

Agree w/both comments above. Also, and this is a matter of preference, I would have done a bit of a tighter, 3:2 ratio crop. It seems the top is just empty space, it does not add anything to the photo. But that is more of a preference. The two strands below the pelvic fin are a bit bright.

[Ibn]

Beautiful fish and I agree with all the comments so far. As for the fronds below the pelvic fins, perhaps you can use photoshop and use a similar method as the one that you described in the tutorial?

[squidfish]

Have little to add to what has already been said.... Great shot Alan of an unusual fish.

What size is the fish? gauging by the background vegetation it looks tiny.

Cheers

Rich

[clippo]

very nice - does this species require a licence to keep?

[kross]

beautiful fish! what's its biotope like?

[alanhill]

Thanks for the answers guys.
This fish is about 2 cm standard length (it really is a little one). They come from the the Carolinas to northern Florida so they are sub-tropical and they seem fine at room temperature - but they wouldn't survive outdoors in the winter in the UK, so they don't need a licence.
The books say they are shy, but ours seem quite mellow. They are certainly good eaters, they like live/frozen foods only and I used to give only small stuff such as little Daphnia, Grindals and bbs - but I put in a few bloodworms for the bigger mosquitos and the little evergladei just swam up and engulfed a bloodworm each - they picked ones that looked almost as long as they are and just sort of swam round them - no chewing, no gulping, no bother at all - just a flick of the fins and look round for another ;-)
Robert Goldstein's lovely book on American fishes says that they are found in quiet ponds and small lakes, and that they are now thought to be more closely related to sticklebacks than to the true sunfishes.

I agree with your comments about the photo. Their little tank has a couple of flowerpots at the back (which they never use) and an untidy mass of Java moss (the indestructible plant), which is not photogenic. I just cloned out one or two specks and a little scratch on the glass, I could have done a bit with those strands. I'm not so sure about a tighter crop, it is a very small fish and it needs the space to give it some scale IMHO. I do like the fins on the photo, particularly the way the rays have caught the light and the lucky spread of the pectoral - but it's a pity that the little guy didn't bother to turn his head black as well as his body.

Alan