These fish were fearless
Dropping under the water at Alexander Springs in Altoona, Florida, I was not expecting the water to be as crystal clear as it was. The visibility was easily one hundred feet, and the water was a crisp 72 degrees. Although this is a shallow dive—I reached a max depth of 23 feet--, there is plenty of wildlife to see below the surface. Within the first few kicks of the dive, I spotted a catfish burrowed in some tall freshwater grasses.
Once we made it to the origin of the spring, there became an abundance of sunfish. Pictured here is a redbreast sunfish. These fish were fearless, and they were clearly accustomed to humans swimming about in their domain. Nestled on the floor of the springs, I was able to patiently wait for several members of this fish species to come right up to my camera lens. Since I was diving in less than fifty feet of water, I was shooting with my Olympus TG-7 with no housing on. That means that the subject of this photo was within inches of the lens. (One of my favorite features of this camera is its ability to take macro photos with the subject touching the lens!)
Learn more about other species of fish the Sunfish family by purchasing one our Wild Kidz Nature Cards packs.
The redbreast sunfish is native to eastern Canada and the United States. It can be found in freshwater throughout these regions. The redbreast sunfish has a reddish-orange belly with blue iridescence on its face and back. They are distinguished from other species by a long opercular (gill-covering) flap. There are faint vertical bars on their green bodies that give way to a dark caudal tail. The caudal tail also has a red to orange tip.
The diet of the redbreast sunfish consists primarily of aquatic insects. They will eat mayflies, small fish, and dragonfly larvae. They are also known to eat small crayfish. The reproduction behavior includes males that guard the approximately 1,000 eggs that are laid by the female. The female redbreast sunfish will lay the eggs in a depression in the substrate that is created by the male. The males will continue to guard the fry once they have hatched.
They are also known to eat small crayfish
Did you know?
- The redbreast sunfish has a lifespan of approximately eight years.
- The largest caught specimen was 2 pounds 1 ounce.
- They lay their eggs in the spring, and the average female will lay 7,000-21,000 eggs in a lifetime.
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