Any native fish collectors?

[Mako]

Howdy all,

I'm a Southeastern US native fish keeper/collector (hobby only, not commercial). Anyone else here collect and keep fish (regardless of what part of the world you are from)? Tell us what you find, how, where, etc....


Right now I'm keeping bluespotted sunfish, mummichog (a killie), hogchocker (small flounder), american eel, and rosyside dace (like a big danio). See pics below.


Anyone else interested in collecting fish in the Charleston, SC area, shoot me a PM or an email. I know several good places, and am interested in finding native Sailfin Mollies if you know where any are.

Bluespotted Sunfish, Enneacanthus gloriosus

Mummichog, Fundulus heteroclitus

Hogchoker, Trinectes maculatus

American Eel, Anguilla rostrata

Rosyside Dace, Clinostomus funduloides

[/i]

 

[jclubb]

I have been evaluating some Red Shiner this week (Cyprinella lutrensis) that I caught in a thrownet. They appear to be VERY hardy fish as I have not lost one in almost a week. Their markings are very interesting however the colors are just not as described in the Complete Encylopedia of theFreshwater Aquarium by John Dawes - this is a bit disappointing. I suspect I may have a local color or possibly a different species of Cyprinella. I am pretty sure that the fish have have plenty of quiet time to restore thier colors as 1) they are eating heartly and 2) thier fins have picked up a rather yellowish color. (Nice looking but not much by itself)

I am thinking of returning them to the wild in a day or two and trying for some of the local sunfish.

 

[tbonem91]

jclubb - not sure if it's illegal here but since you're in CO, try to get some small brookies - their coloring is awesome. If I could afford a large enough tank and create a stream-like biotope, I would definitly consider some of them. (Assuming I wouldn't get arrested of course)

 

[krap101]

are sailfin mollies native? you mean wild? because isnt sailfin man made from the inbreeding etc..

 

[WilliamBanik]

K101,

Sailfin Mollies are indigenous to the United States and Mexico. I have caught and kept many out of the local Houston Bayous. They aren’t the same creatures you see in the LFS. In the wild the have a green hue with speckles of brown, black, and aqua blue.

TB,

You bring up a good point concerning the collection of native fish. In Texas one has to have a fishing license to legally collect fish. I would advise anyone trying to catch and keep native fish to check with the state wildlife department for the laws in one’s region.

Mako,

A nice set of fish you managed to collect. Did you take those photos or are they links to fish you have caught?

Best regards,

William

 

[Mako]

Naw, I din't take those photos, they're hotlinked.

I did finally find SC native sailfin mollies. Ours (well, at least, these) are pearly-white with orange blush in the dorsal and caudal fin. I can describe them with one word: hungry. They are constantly nibbling on algae---it must be terrifying to be a simple plant in my tank right about now.

I also found a few other neat critters--- take a look at these (not my photos either). Both make good community tank inhabitants, but really need a heavily planted tank, and a tank with a decent amount of green fuzz algae on the wood and plant leaves, as they love to graze. The last one is a livebearer, a very tiny fish. Oddly, the young are as big, or bigger, than guppy young.

Bluefin killie Lucania goodei

Golden topminnow Fundulus chrysotus

Least Killifish (not a true killie, a livebearer), Heterandria formosa

 

[krap101]

the bluefin killie looks awesome. the golden topminnow looks like a mosquitofish and the last one looks like a non fancy guppy.. but their all soo cute

 

[Toirtis]

I envy you both the native killies (Fundulus sp.). I have kept a few natives in the past, including sticklebacks, which have a very fascinating breeding/nesting process.

Oddly enough, we have introduced sailfin mollies here in Alberta.

 

[Mako]

WOW! Sailfins in Alberta!!!!!!!???? I'm amazed they can stand the winters!! In the US I've been told it's a rare find to catch a sailfin any further north than Virginia.

The two killies are warmwater fish, and do very well with hardwater tropicals. In fact, they like the water *warmer* than most tropical tanks, both species get quite hyper and happy at 80F.

Toirtis--- I noticed your email, reptile rescue. I bet you guys get, or see, tons of emaciated green iguanas. I wish it was illegal to sell those things, they're simply not a good pet for anyone other than extreme enthusiasts willing to take the time and money to care for them. And now they're running wild in Florida. Aye....

 

[Toirtis]

WOW! Sailfins in Alberta!!!!!!!???? I'm amazed they can stand the winters!! In the US I've been told it's a rare find to catch a sailfin any further north than Virginia.

It is...we also have jewel cichlids....but...there is a trick to it...they are all feral specimens resulting from a series of releases in the 1950's into the marsh created by a natural hotsprings in the mountain city of Banff. A friend of mine wrote a great little article on them :
http://www.aquarticles.com/articles/travel/Gussie_snow_fish.html

Toirtis--- I noticed your email, reptile rescue. I bet you guys get, or see, tons of emaciated green iguanas. I wish it was illegal to sell those things, they're simply not a good pet for anyone other than extreme enthusiasts willing to take the time and money to care for them. And now they're running wild in Florida. Aye....

I still see a few, but since I got most of the stores in the province to quit selling them about 7 years ago, the number coming into the rescue has dropped considerably each year. Right now I am mostly inundated with aquatic turtles.

 

[webmoose]

Great Article.. I had forgotten about those fish out in Banff. have to have another look next time I am out there...

Mooose

 

[Mako]

I can imagine. I wish we could get idiot places to quit selling iguanas--- better yet, make them illegal (you'll have better luck in Canada, as us Americans tend to stand firm on our "rights" even if it means killing 999 out of 1000 iguanas). Then again, most shops that I know of buy their iguanas from places in Central America that actually farm them for food. I don't know which is better