Forums36
Topics40,902
Posts557,129
Members18,452
|
Most Online3,612 Jan 10th, 2023
|
|
14 members (Bill Cody, Augie, Boondoggle, Shorthose, Brett B, Layne, Sunil, Angler8689, jpsdad, rjackson, esshup, jbird5986, Rick O, anthropic),
996
guests, and
217
robots. |
Key:
Admin,
Global Mod,
Mod
|
|
|
Joined: Jun 2010
Posts: 63
|
OP
Joined: Jun 2010
Posts: 63 |
This is a repost in case you didn't seeit posted 'test test 123'. I caught this 4 inch minnow in a runoff creek from a water treatment facilty. They wer in the running water, huddled up in the slower edges of the creek. There were others larger, maybe up to 6 inches. These are also in a duck pond in Midland, the adults usually run a foot or two below the surface and come up to eat bread or anything thrown out to them. Greg
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 10,458 Likes: 2
Ambassador Field Correspondent Hall of Fame Lunker
|
Ambassador Field Correspondent Hall of Fame Lunker
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 10,458 Likes: 2 |
Can you take a few more photos of this fish... The coloration on it is very washed on, was it sitting in a bucket a while before you took the photo? But, I would say in all likelihood, it is a plains killifish.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jun 2010
Posts: 63
|
OP
Joined: Jun 2010
Posts: 63 |
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 28,422 Likes: 794
Moderator Ambassador Field Correspondent Lunker
|
Moderator Ambassador Field Correspondent Lunker
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 28,422 Likes: 794 |
Did you notice the black dots on the fish?
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 10,458 Likes: 2
Ambassador Field Correspondent Hall of Fame Lunker
|
Ambassador Field Correspondent Hall of Fame Lunker
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 10,458 Likes: 2 |
OK, those photos give me a definite ID. Those are gulf killifish, a species of saltwater killifish which are also adapted at living in freshwater environments. They are highly tolerant of extremes in salinity from pure freshwater to nearly twice the salinity of normal ocean water. Very closely related to the mummichog which is basically its east coast cousin. They sometimes go by the nick name of mud, bull or cigar minnows...
The black spots appear to be mussel glochidium.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jun 2010
Posts: 63
|
OP
Joined: Jun 2010
Posts: 63 |
Thanks, I have been told they were mud minnows but that did'nt really mean anything to me. Mussel Glochidium is a bad thing? Not familiar with it.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 10,458 Likes: 2
Ambassador Field Correspondent Hall of Fame Lunker
|
Ambassador Field Correspondent Hall of Fame Lunker
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 10,458 Likes: 2 |
Not really, they aren't good but really don't affect the fish that much.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jun 2010
Posts: 63
|
OP
Joined: Jun 2010
Posts: 63 |
I suppose these minnows and mussels would not be good to introduce a small CNGB, LMB, FHM pond?
|
|
|
|
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 20,043 Likes: 1
Hall of Fame Lunker
|
Hall of Fame Lunker
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 20,043 Likes: 1 |
Travis,
You da man when it comes to identifying fish! One of these days I'm going to get out my key books and brush up!
If pigs could fly bacon would be harder to come by and there would be a lot of damaged trees.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 10,458 Likes: 2
Ambassador Field Correspondent Hall of Fame Lunker
|
Ambassador Field Correspondent Hall of Fame Lunker
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 10,458 Likes: 2 |
The "minnows" would be fine... The mussels, hard to tell. May be a species that wouldn't survive in a pond. Hard to tell what other diseases and parasites you could bring in with the fish. So be careful...
|
|
|
|
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 20,043 Likes: 1
Hall of Fame Lunker
|
Hall of Fame Lunker
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 20,043 Likes: 1 |
A salt dip would take care of external parasites.
If pigs could fly bacon would be harder to come by and there would be a lot of damaged trees.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jun 2010
Posts: 63
|
OP
Joined: Jun 2010
Posts: 63 |
I think I will take a pass on the minnows. Thanks guys for all your help.
|
|
|
|
Joined: May 2010
Posts: 147
|
Joined: May 2010
Posts: 147 |
Black spot disease. http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/fish_diseases/neascus.html Actually a bird parasite with snails, and fish as intermediate hosts. Does little harm to fish, and is self limiting in the absence of piscivorous birds, and snails. Mussel glochidium attach themselves to the gills of fish, and are not embedded in the skin. Gulf Killifish is a good ID. Here is a mud minnow. http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/dnap/rivfish/mudmin/tabid/1709/Default.aspx Similar, but not your fish. Mudminnows are actually more closely related to pike, than they are cyprinids.
Last edited by brier; 09/26/10 11:49 PM.
|
|
|
|
Joined: May 2009
Posts: 573 Likes: 3
Lunker
|
Lunker
Joined: May 2009
Posts: 573 Likes: 3 |
I know someone who has freshwater mussels in their pond and they aren't crazy that they're there. They don't know how they got there but I see now how they could have arrived on some fish. The older mussels can be sharp on swimmers feet and they often throw them back into the deeper water. Their pond is the first I've ever heard of that had mussels. Someone told them the mussels are a sign that their pond is healthy, I've never heard that before either. Are mussels too big for redear?
|
|
|
|
Joined: May 2010
Posts: 147
|
Joined: May 2010
Posts: 147 |
mussels as adults are too big for redear, though they might control juveniles. There are very few mussels that fair well in ponds. The eastern floater is pretty common in ponds. Largely due to the fact that it's host species include bluegill, and pumpkinseed. The range map in this PDF is incomplete, as I have found them in Ohio, and have to assume they are probably in adjacent states. They can easily come into a pond hitchhiking on the gills of stocked fish. I hope to have some in my pond at some point. http://www.naturalheritage.state.pa.us/factsheets/Pyganodon%20cataracta.pdf
|
|
|
|
Joined: May 2010
Posts: 1,840
Lunker
|
Lunker
Joined: May 2010
Posts: 1,840 |
Is it ok or good to have these mussels in your ponds or should they be killed off?
One of our ponds are full of a mussel that looks like this, not sure it is the same one since I am in Oklahoma, but I guess it is possible for it to have made it this far.
The Asian Carp and Snakehead are examples of how far something can expand.
Thanks
|
|
|
|
Joined: May 2010
Posts: 147
|
Joined: May 2010
Posts: 147 |
I would like them in my pond, but that is a matter of preference. I just see them as another part of a balanced ecosystem. And here in the US, freshwater mussels need all of the help they can get. I believe they are our most endangered class of fauna.
|
|
|
|
Joined: May 2009
Posts: 573 Likes: 3
Lunker
|
Lunker
Joined: May 2009
Posts: 573 Likes: 3 |
I would like them in my pond, but that is a matter of preference. I just see them as another part of a balanced ecosystem. And here in the US, freshwater mussels need all of the help they can get. I believe they are our most endangered class of fauna. Endangered? In the Great Lakes region zebra mussels are highly invasive and a big problem. "Zebra and quagga mussels have been making a particular mess of the Great Lakes ecosystem and economy since they were discovered in the late 1980s. The filter-feeding machines have cost this region billions of dollars by plugging industrial water intake pipes, starving fish populations and spawning noxious algae outbreaks that have trashed some of the Midwest's most prized shoreline."http://www.jsonline.com/news/usandworld/40037927.htmlETA: I just read that zebra mussels have eliminated all of the native mussels in Lake St. Clair so the native mussels probably are endangered. I don't know what would keep them in check in a pond and they might get overwhelming. If the zebra mussels can be removed from the lake they hope to re-establish the native mussels that can still be found in inland ponds.
Last edited by loretta; 09/27/10 05:38 PM.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 7,099 Likes: 22
Ambassador Field Correspondent Hall of Fame Lunker
|
Ambassador Field Correspondent Hall of Fame Lunker
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 7,099 Likes: 22 |
Loretta, I think Brier was referring to native mussels as being endangered. I don't think anyone would want Zebra Mussels.
|
|
|
|
Joined: May 2010
Posts: 147
|
Joined: May 2010
Posts: 147 |
Thanks Rex. Yes, I was referring to our native freshwater mussels, I should have been more clear. I have zero tolerance for invasives, and can't even find it in myself to release common carp when I catch them. It is catch, and release........ into the woods. Or on occasion when I catch them in clean cool water, I make a meal out of them. Not half bad, but not near as tasty as grass carp. That is a fine tasting fish, though they are very difficult to clean. I am in no way defending zebra mussels Native mussels are fascinating creatures. Check out this video of mussel reproduction. http://other95.blogspot.com/2008/08/bivalve-vs-fish.html
|
|
|
|
Joined: May 2010
Posts: 1,840
Lunker
|
Lunker
Joined: May 2010
Posts: 1,840 |
Can these spots be transferred from fish to fish or do they have to run the course of being eaten by the bird etc.?
|
|
|
|
Joined: May 2010
Posts: 147
|
Joined: May 2010
Posts: 147 |
No, no fish to fish transfer. Must be hosted by snails, and birds to spread in your pond.
|
|
|
Moderated by Bill Cody, Bruce Condello, catmandoo, Chris Steelman, Dave Davidson1, esshup, ewest, FireIsHot, Omaha, Sunil, teehjaeh57
|
|