Live minnows for bait shipped Fed Ex! Shiners, fatheads, rosey red fatheads, goldfish and other species.

http://www.andersonminnows.com/fish_farm_species.htm

Another deal, Cecil.

Bass Pro Shops sells minnows from an outdoor vending machine. How? I don't know but they sell them during Texas summers so there has to be some serious chilling of the water. One of the clerks said that TPWD was stocking it but I have trouble believing that.

Does anyone have an idea what species the black salty bait fish is? Has anyone seen one up close? How big do they get if they do not become fish food?

Good question Bill. Maybe one of us should call them and find out.

Bill and Cecil,

Cyprinidae

Bruce what do you mean by Cyprinidae?

carp

Are you guessing from the photo?

I've had them in my hands. They're little carp/goldfish bred for color. I'm not sure what the big deal is. I've caught all sorts of fish, especially walleye using goldfish for bait.

Black salty

They looked like drab colored goldfish in the photo. Can they cross goldfish and carp? If so I am not sure what the advantage of that fish would be. Thanks for posting the photo.

There is a carp X goldfish cross.

Here's one link..

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query...2&dopt=Abstract

Another black salty



This one's got lots of goldfish in him.

You already saw this picture on the black salty website.

Lusk posted some time back about the Black Salty. I don't recall the details but believe they weren't all that exotic.

Goldfish is same family (cyprinidae) as common carp but different genus and species. I'd have to say in reviewing the three pictures above that this fish is more goldfish than common carp. If I'm not mistaken goldfish are Chinese effort to domesticate common carp and are resultant from same parentage. Could be wrong on this one.

But they've been given an exotic name, so can be sold at an exotic price, right?

I made a call and my source says they are goldfish with special color from a couple generations of selection. He could be wrong too. I'm wrong a lot.

Bruce, I ran into them at an outdoors show. They were making a lot of noise about them. As I recall, they were in short supply at Lake Texhoma and were setting the hook on all of the striper guides.

Great analogy. Very funny.

Quote from Lusk:

I know those guys. I like them. They are honest. Black Saltys are dark goldfish, from the carp family. They have been selectively bred to live a bit longer than "normal" goldfish in saltwater. The biggest market is along the gulf coast, for bait for fishermen chasing redfish and speckled trout.
I don't suggest them in a recreational lake. They are goldfish.

It's a marketing thing...the claim is that they have a higher tolerance to salt water than "normal" dark colored goldfish.

Definitely one more argument against allowing live bait minnows to be use in your pond.

Here's a reason you might not want Cyprinidae in your pond.

Bruce, now that is one ugly fish. I've often thought that there were no bad fish, just misplaced ones. That thing has changed my mind.

Scale, Bruce? How big is that ugly thing?

Is that the elusive 'Siamese Fighting Carp"?

That is what happens when the septic is too close to the pond.

This is what happens when goldfish enjoy the company of carp.

Or a gold fish that reverts back to carp colors?

It's also suffering from a sever case of septicemia or some other bacterial infection.

I believe he's also suffering from an arrow through the noggin.

and that trumps the "sever case of septicemia"

I'll confess. I got that photo off of the Nebraska Game and Parks forum. Somebody pulled it off of a bowhunting website. It's definitely hideous. It's kind of a "Carps Gone Wild".

Has anyone considered a Betta fish that someone let loose in a pond. Burger may have guessed it right in his previous post. The coloration is different (and I am not familiar with the exact class they belong to), but the flowing fins, body shape, and mouth all fit into my hypothesis. Lots of folks throw aquarium fish into ponds and lakes.

Just throwing something out there for thought. Any thoughts???

Deb

edit: The Betta splendens, Siamese Fighting Fish, are a member of the Labyrinth Fish Family. Betta antoni is a member of the akarensis group and is distinguished by its black lower lip and black chin bar, and slim body profile.

Betta mandor is a member of the foerschi group and can be identified by its slim shape and presence of two red bars on the gill cover.

Betta krataios is believed to be a member of the Betta dimidiata group and has a distinctive iridescent blue operculum, and more predorsal and lateral scales than other members of the group, as well as lacking the extended fin rays seen in some other species in the complex.

Betta ideii differs from other species in the Betta unimaculata group in having a characteristic orange marking between the front of the eye and the upper jaw. Betta compuncta is also a member of the unimaculata group and has a distinctive black reticulated pattern above the base of the anal fins of females and young fish, or a black patch in males. There's also a yellow-orange marking on the tail of females of this species.

Betta uberis is a member of the coccina group and has distinctive green streaks on the dorsal, anal and tail fins as well as an iridescent green mid-lateral spot, which is seen in most members of the species group.

Interesting fish to ponder over Bruce. Could it be a Betta who lost its vibrant colors due to its environment, or could it even be a hybrid. My curiosity is at an all time high (that or my meds for strep throat have ME at an all time HIGH, :p )

Definately not a betta. Looks more like a long fin goldfish.