Norm
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The Greater Portland Aquarium Society
www.gpas.org
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----- Original Message -----
From: Christopher Scharpf <ichthos_at_charm.net>
To: NANFA Mailing List <nanfa_at_aquaria.net>
Sent: Friday, April 14, 2000 4:15 AM
Subject: Re: NANFA-- native fish trivia question
<< What native North American minnow is the only minnow in the country (if
<< not the world) that naturally inhabits coastal islands?
>
>
>The peamouth (Mylocheilus caurinus).
>
>Richard Hopper
You are correct, sir!
The peamouth is native to Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, mainland
British
Columbia, and on BC's coastal islands near Nanaimo and on the west side of
Vancouver Island. The peamouth is one of the few minnows in the world that
can
tolerate salt water. How it reached the BC islands, however, is something of
a
mystery. The peamouth's ability to live in salt water (usually an impassable
barrier to freshwater fishes) probably allowed it to survive riding a plume
of
brackish water from the Fraser River estuary on mainland British Columbia
across
the Strait of Georgia to Vancouver Island. How the peamouth reached the west
coast of Vancouver Island is even more of a mystery. Since it occurs in
Ozette
Lake on the Olympic Peninsula of northwestern Washington, it's possible the
peamouth crossed over during the last glaciation when melting ice sheets
decreased the salinity of the Pacific Ocean coast and Juan de Fuca Strait.
As far as I know, there are no published references about the aquarium care
of
this handsome fish with the red lower lip. Despite growing to 14", nothing
about
its biology indicates it woul be difficult to keep.
Do any of the northwesterners on this list have any experience with the
peamouth?
Chris Scharpf
Baltimore
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