Lepomis
Gibbosus = Pumpkinseed
Sunfish
[Sally Williams/Patricia Maher]
Coloring: Sides speckled with orange, yellow, blue, and emerald spots;
breast and belly orange to orange-red
= Pumpkinseed sunfish, yellow sunfish, common sunfish, round sunfish,
bream, sun bass, punky, pond perch, and simply sunfish or "sunny".
Vergleich: Siehe: Pisces + Patriarchat
During the trituration the group was very giddy, laughing and joking.
Even though provers expressed some violent tendencies and intolerance of each
other, as the trituration continued, the group laughed and was light-hearted
about it. One prover punched another impulsively and both broke out in
laughter. The conversations and drawings were of stabbing, punching, fish with
large teeth, an octopus destroying a submarine, fights, and battles, but the
general mood around it was light. Though
the provers seemed intolerant of each other at times, everyone had “sunny”
dispositions.
The proving also reflects a strong dynamic of connection and
disconnection within the group of provers. There was a strong desire to be
connected to a group and work as a group, and, conversely a feeling of being
disconnected or left out. This theme is borne out in the full 2 weeks of the
proving (dreams). During the trituration one prover had the sensation of being
in another room separated from the rest. The feeling of being disconnected
because of distortions in hearing and an inability to communicate well or
understand what others were saying was quite pronounced.
Sally has successfully prescribed this remedy for an Alzheimer’s case
where the client had a very “sunny” and kind disposition. Everyone around her
would remark on what a sweet and lovely person she was. However, her daughter
related that her mother had been extremely cruel to her and her siblings during
their childhoods. Her mother had high expectations and would “punish them with
a belt with a smile on her face”.
Louis Klein teaches that cannibalistic fish may very well be good
remedies for Alzheimer’s and other disorders of the brain. Fish are well known
as “brain food” due to a high content of omega-3 oils, but that is not the only
reason for this association. Cannibalism is quite prevalent amoung fish and the
connection between prion diseases and cannibalism is well known (e.g.
kuru-kuru, mad cow and chronic wasting disease). Some researchers also
postulate a connection between prion diseases and other kinds of brain
pathology such as Alzheimers and Parkinson's because of the similarities in
brain protein malformation. In this particular remedy, the mental symptoms of
Alzheimer’s and similar brain disorders are present, in particular the difficulties
in memory, concentration, speaking, and comprehending language. The remedy's
unique quality is - hidden cruelty masked by a “sunny” disposition.
Mind:
Frustration/Intolerance/Irritability:
Accepting/Relaxed/Indifferent:
Communication/Comprehension/Concentration:
Group/Connection/Separation:
T Together
E Each
A Accomplishes
M More
Spacey/Druggy/Slowness/Poor Comprehension:
Tired but not like wanted to sleep, just like I wanted to sit still. Even
though it was an effort to concentrate much, I could focus on playing a video
game - the visuals and sounds combined were very appealing.
Tired/Unmotivated:
Water:
Violence/Fighting:
Head: Pain (from nose to top of head/like a skunk
stripe down center of head/across forehead (sharp pain/stuffy
feeling/pressure/vice-like)/> distraction/
Vertigo: Fuzziness, spacey feeling/dizziness,
wooziness/swaying - dizzy, like motion sickness/spinning.
Vision: spacey feeling, feeling of not seeing clearly
Hearing: Sounds distorted/not hearing well/
Smell: Metallic
Face: Teeth feel ok but rest of face feels
distorted; lip piercing feels as though protruding.
Twinges in r. jaw
Tensed jaw
Mouth: Tingling and prickling in the tongue.
Roof of mouth sore.
Teeth: Can’t wrap lips around teeth/”As if lips
won’t close around teeth”
Taste: Metallic taste back of nose/throat area.
Smell, taste on tip of tongue, doesn’t taste good.
Throat: Heavy throat, pressure base of throat, fullness.
Sharp prickly feeling in back of throat/feels like swallowed something
that is prickly in the back of throat.
Heavy pressure at the base of my throat with fullness.
Sharp prickly feeling in the back of my throat like I swallowed a hook.
Weird stuff in back of throat.
Thickness in throat as soon as Tirturation began.
Constriction in throat with heart racing.
When I eat at times it is like there is something stuck in my throat.
Stomach: “Cookie dough and sugar sound delicious”
Heavy feeling (like eating a dough-ball).
Not feeling so great.
Sick to stomach.
just ate huge dough ball, sitting in stomach.
Dizziness, wooziness, then in stomach.
Dizzy and woozy and sick to my stomach. Like I am on a boat sea sick.
Swaying dizzy like I have motion sickness. Like I have a dough ball just lying
in my belly. Whoa – Whoa - Whoa. Spinning.
Nauseous, burpy/nauseous feeling stomach and up to throat/definite wave
of nausea.
Headache and nausea coming back.
Not liking the spicy food.
Food doesn’t taste good; appetite is off.
Meat is very appealing but everything else is “meh”.
Sweet tooth.
Hunger is back, munchy.
Nausea, like coming off of mushrooms.
“wonder if the remedy is coke”
Drunken feeling. Seasickness, feeling of swaying as if in a boat.
Ravenous appetite out of the blue, I ate 2 pieces of pizza when I can
only usually eat one, craving meat
Slightly upset stomach after breakfast (scrambled eggs)/slight nauseous
feeling right after getting up, but it passed quickly.
Woke up in the middle of the night with heartburn and took a Tums
My appetite is kind of gone, and when I eat I get very bloated and gassy
and burpy.
Male organs: Discussion of a
Female organs: Got pretty bad menstrual cramps, lasted about
3 hours but then went away completely
Chest: Heart palpitations/heart racing feeling.
Back: My cervical spine aches., It was aching
during the proving and yesterday as well.
Extremities: Lack of coordination, spilling water on
oneself.
Can’t decide of right or left handed.
Clumsy, don’t really know my body.
I spill water on myself
Feel like I should be walking on my toes.
Very clumsy, stubbed my toe while sitting down.
Fingertips very sensitive.
Hands and feet are very tired, my limbs feel weak too, sweeping was
making my arms tired
My right hip is stiff and sore. I do not want to work out.
My feet have been achy. The outside of them, it is the area of you were
to trace your finger down from the base of your little toe to just below your
ankle bone.
Burning in both feet up into shins.
Tingling/numbness toes r. foot.
My feet are really hurting today, we were on the beach but not long
enough and I didn’t walk long enough in the sand that it may have been why…
they hurt when I walk and ache when I am still.
As I suspected I am very very sore today and I cannot really move my
arms. I have to go to work today and that is going to suck. Oh well………
Still really sore. I feel like every tendon in my body is sore and tight
and it is really hard to extend my arms.
I feel like I am going to be sore for the rest of my life, even though I
know I will be fine at some point. I really do not want to go to work today.
I do not have work today so I slept until 2 and I am still sore.
Sleep: Slept really soundly and did not dream.
Unusual for me.
I slept really well, very deep sleep, 8 hours, I didn’t want to wake up
or get up, it took me a long time to feel like I was “awake”.
Was very tired when I was going to bed but I tossed and turned…
It is a little easier to wake up today.
Slept in again today. Slept like shit last night. I was very hot and
couldn’t get comfortable. I remember dreaming about quicksand. The thought of
suffocating was terrifying! I woke myself up because it was very uncomfortable.
Quelle: www.helios.co.uk
Vergleich: Siehe: Pisces
Allerlei: Identification: Part of the sunfish family, the Pumpkinseed is
a very deep-bodied, laterally compressed, almost disk-like fish. They’re one of
the most colorful fresh water fish, breeding males especially so. The fish’s
breast and belly are orange to red-orange, and its back and sides are brown to olive.
Its sides and back are speckled with orange, yellow, blue, and emerald spots.
As with all centrarchids, they have sharp spines in the dorsal and anal
fins.
Habitat: Pumpkinseeds can be found in shallow, cool to moderately warm
water. They are most prevalent in small lakes and ponds or weedy bays of larger
lakes. Preferring cover of some type, such as aquatic vegetation or submerged
brush, they are seldom found in open water. Ideal water temperatures range from
75 to 89 degrees F. Pumpkinseeds are more tolerant of low oxygen levels than
bluegills are, but less tolerant of warm water. Groups of young fish school
close to shore, but adults tend to travel in groups of 2-4 in slightly deeper
yet still covered waters. Pumpkinseeds are active throughout the day, but they
rest at night near the bottom or in protected areas in rocks or near submerged
logs. Some Pumpkinseeds have shown a strong instinct for a home range. When
captured fish were marked and released in a different part of the lake, a
significant percentage of them returned to their original location.
Life Cycle: These fish reproduce rapidly and are low on the food chain.
They eat a variety of insects, including mosquito larvae, along with small
mollusks and crustaceans. They also feed on smaller fish, including smaller
pumpkinseeds. In the shallow areas of which they are typical, the fish exploit
the entire water column from the bottom to surface. In turn, they provide food
for birds and mammals (humans). When water temperatures reach 55-63 degrees F
(late spring or early summer), male pumpkinseeds start to build nests to spawn.
Spawning sites are generally in shallow water from 6 inches to several feet
deep on sand or gravel bottoms. The males use their caudal fins to sweep out
shallow, saucer-shaped depressions about twice the length of the fish in
diameter (about 4 to 15 inches). The fish remove larger objects like rocks by
pulling them out with their mouths. Nests are built in colonies of 3 to 15 nest
sites. Sometimes Pumpkinseeds build nests in bluegill nest colonies, and the
two species will interbreed. Males vigorously defend their nests with typical
sunfish aggressive behavior—spreading their gills, charging, biting (watch your
toes!), chasing, and, rarely, mouth-fighting.
Females arrive after the nests are completed, coming in from deeper
waters. At first the females appear to be chased away from the nest by the
males, but after a considerable amount of chasing, the females head toward the
nest instead of away from it. Once the female is in the nest, the pair swims in
circles side by side, with the bellies of both fish touching. The male then
releases milt and the female releases eggs. Females may spawn in more than one
nest, and more than one female may use the same nest. Sometimes more than one
female will spawn with a male simultaneously. Females produce 1,500 to 1,700
eggs, depending on their size and age.
The small eggs stick to gravel, sand, or debris in the nest, and they
hatch in as little as three days at 82.4 degrees F. Females leave the nest
immediately after spawning, but males remain and are highly protective,
guarding the eggs and fanning them. The newly hatched young are minute and
transparent, for some time only the eyes are visible. The male guards them for
about the first 11 days, returning them to the nest in his mouth if they try to
stray. The males continue to guard the offspring, herding them into a ball-like
cloud. After a week or two, the young gain sufficient energy and maintaining
the order of the cloud becomes impossible at which point the offspring disperse
and the male departs the nest. Fathers may even nip at people’s hands or feet
that come close to their nests.
The young fish stay on or near the shallow breeding area and grow to about
2 inches in their first year. Sexual maturity is usually achieved by age 2.
Pumpkinseeds have lived to be 12 years old in captivity, but in nature most do
not exceed 6-8 years old.
Defense: The Pumpkinseed sunfish has adapted in many ways to the surroundings
that it lives in. The pattern on its skin allows them to be camouflaged within
the vegetation and resemble the sunlight patterns that reflect on the ponds,
lakes and river beds. This clever fish has also developed a specific method of
protection. Along the dorsal fin, there are ten to eleven spines, and three on
the anal fin. All of these are very sharp which help against predators.
Another adaptation is the Pumpkinseed’s ability to anticipate
approaching predators (or prey) by detecting changes or movements in the water
using different mechanical receptors.
The bright colored gills also serve as a method of protection and
dominance. When a pumpkinseed feels threatened by predators, the Pumpkinseed
will flare their gills to make them seem larger in size, but also to emphasis
the red coloration.
Place in the Ecosystem: Pumpkinseeds eat a diverse diet of small prey,
such as insects, insect larvae, mollusks, snails and other crustaceans, and
small fish. They are effective at destroying mosquito larvae. They feed at all
water levels from the surface to the bottom, and they feed throughout the day,
with heaviest feeding during the afternoon. All fish that eat other fish will
eat pumpkinseeds, and large pumpkinseeds will eat smaller pumpkinseeds. Because
they tend to spend so much time in shallow water, they’re also eaten by
cormorants, mergansers, and herons. Pumpkinseeds are accustomed to being low on
the food chain, so they reproduce rapidly. However, this means that without
pressure from predators they reproduce so rapidly that there isn’t enough food
and habitat for all of the fish to grow large. This can cause populations of
stunted fish. Pumpkinseeds will hybridize with most other Lepomis, especially
with bluegill and green sunfish. The result is unusually fast-growing, sterile
male hybrids.
Human activities can also have an impact on pumpkinseed populations.
Shoreline development can destroy pumpkinseed spawning grounds, and increased
silt from shoreline erosion can cover spawning sites with sand, disrupting
spawning activities. Heavy lake use can also stir up water and disrupt spawning
activities.
Fishing: Because they tend to remain in the shallows and feed all day,
pumpkinseeds are relatively easy to catch from shore. Pumpkinseeds bite
voraciously on nearly any type of natural bait—including garden worms, insects,
leeches, or bits of fish. They will also take small artificial lures and can be
fished for with a fly rod with wet flies or dry flies. They will also hit at
grubs early in the winter but are less active from mid- to late winter. They
may be easy to catch and popular with the youngest anglers, but pumpkinseeds
are often sought by adults as well. The fish do put up an aggressive fight on
line, and they have an excellent flavor and are low in fat and high in protein.
Vorwort/Suchen Zeichen/Abkürzungen Impressum