My only fish attack experience involves Pumpkinseeds, _Lepomis gibbosus_. I
was collecting rocks covered with eggs from a nest in a pond south of Boston
7 years ago, when the guardian male attacked my hand and bit the tip of my
right index finger. I pulled my hand out of the water, and he hung on til he
was about a meter out of the water and then dropped off. It didn't hurt me,
since they don't have shearing teeth, but I was impressed by the sheer
bravado. He was a big Pumpkinseed at about 15 cm. This well-defined behavior
is one of the reasons that Pumpkinseeds are one of my favorite fish.
I'll decline the presentation of a purple tom. . .
--Bruce Stallsmith
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