Let me know when you're going back. If you can, try to give me a week or
two notice.
Chip
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Rose Lawn Museum [SMTP:roselawn_at_mindspring.com]
> Sent: Wednesday, August 14, 2002 12:06 PM
> To: nanfa_at_aquaria.net
> Subject: NANFA-- Chasing F. bifax
>
> Hi All
>
> On Saturday (8/10/02), I slipped across the border into AL searching for
> the hard-to-find stippled studfish (Fundulus bifax). This one is a
> "tweener" that exhibits similarities to the Northern & Southern studfish,
> but has an extremely limited range. Although they occur in GA as well,
> they
> are listed as rare over here. I wanted at least a good photo for my
> records. They proved to be far more elusive than I imagined (I'm not used
> to getting skunked!), but the chase was fun.
>
> On the way over via I-20, I noticed that my AL license had expired on
> 7/31.
> I took the first exit inside AL, and drove north on Co. Highway 49 into
> the
> Tallapoosa River drainage. The river was nearby, and I crossed several
> little creeks along the way that looked promising. I headed west on US 78,
> passing through several little townships that seemed to have only one
> store
> each, none of which sold fishing licenses. In Edwardsville, a very large
> lady told me, "We cain't get 'em 'til the fifteenth. I heard the only
> place
> that's got 'em right now is the courthouse."
>
> Having no idea where the courthouse was, I contemplated my options as I
> pulled back onto the highway. The very first vehicle I passed was that of
> a
> ranger. I took it as an omen and continued my search. Three miles further
> west I finally found a store that sold licenses and I was soon legal once
> again. After my recent visit with the GA, SC, & US Forestry officials, I
> had no inclination to stretch the rules!
>
> I backtracked to the main body of the Tallapoosa. I thought about breaking
> out the snorkeling gear, but it was already late afternoon. My daylight
> time in the water was going to be too limited for that. Normally, beneath
> each highway bridge there is a stretch of rip-rap or at least a path to
> the
> water. However, at this location (on both sides of the bridge) the rip-rap
> ended abruptly at a thick stand of short trees (willows?) overgrown with
> mean ol' blackberry brambles.
>
> From the north side I probed the edges until I found what looked like a
> promising opening on reasonably solid ground. Wrong! My first step became
> a
> downward plunge into the blackberries. I landed unhurt, upside down in a
> tangle of bushes that cushioned my fall, but greeted me with those nasty
> little spikes with which blackberry pickers are all too familiar. My
> waders
> protected me from the chest down, but my arms were tattooed with red
> stripes in several places.
>
> When I finally regained my footing, I climbed back up and crossed to the
> south side of the bridge. The approach wasn't a lot better, but there were
> fewer berries on that side. I spied a sliver of daylight near the river
> and
> walked down the weeds until I broke through onto a strip of sand at the
> waters edge. Dripping with perspiration, I resisted the urge to just go
> swimming instead, and waded into the refreshing flow.
>
> The river was fairly wide with a gentle current and lots of vegetation
> along the banks. The bottom was muddy in spots but mostly sand mixed with
> gravel. There were also a few rocky riffles and scattered tiny islands
> covered with reeds. From the way it looked, I figured I'd have my F. bifax
> fairly quickly with lots of time left over for exploring. Wrong again. I
> thrashed around both shores for about 1/4 mile above and below the bridge
> without ever seeing a single studfish. F. stellifer's range overlapped in
> that location, but I didn't even see any of those. I did, however, find (I
> think) eight different species of darters. I moved on to several other
> nearby creeks, but still didn't find my target species.
>
> As the sunlight faded, I accepted defeat (for the time being) and headed
> back to GA. I know I was close to 'em, so I'll be back soon! The species I
> observed (if all of my IDs are correct) included:
>
> Alabama hogsucker (Hypentelium etowanum)
> Tallapoosa shiner (Cyprinella gibbsi)
> Striped shiner (Luxilus chrysocephalus)
> Creek chub (Semotilus atromaculatus)
> Stoneroller (Campostoma anomalum)
> Banded sculpin (Cottus carolinae)
> Speckled madtom (Noturus leptacanthus)
> Yellow bullhead (Ameiurus natalis)
> Bluegill (Lepomis macrochirus)
> Longear sunfish (L. megalotis)
> Juvenile redeye bass (Micropterus coosae)
> Juvenile spotted bass (M. punctulatus)
> Shield darter (Percina peltata)
> Bronze darter (P. palmaris)
> Freckled darter (P. lenticula)
> Blackbanded darter (P. nigrofasciata)
> River darter (P. shumardi)
> Tallapoosa darter (Etheostoma tallapoosae)
> Greenbreast darter (E. jordani)
> Speckled darter (E. stigmaeum)
>
> The speckled darter I thought at first was a logperch. It was huge for a
> darter, but after I got the book out and looked it up, it clearly wasn't a
> logperch. I may try to put together a trip back to this location before
> warm weather ends. If you think you might want to go along, let me know.
>
> All The Best,
>
> Steven A. Ellis
> Kennesaw, GA
> ----
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/-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
/"Unless stated otherwise, comments made on this list do not necessarily
/ reflect the beliefs or goals of the North American Native Fishes
/ Association"
/ This is the discussion list of the North American Native Fishes Association
/ nanfa_at_aquaria.net. To subscribe, unsubscribe, or get help, send the word
/ subscribe, unsubscribe, or help in the body (not subject) of an email to
/ nanfa-request_at_aquaria.net. For a digest version, send the command to
/ nanfa-digest-request_at_aquaria.net instead.
/ For more information about NANFA, visit our web page, http://www.nanfa.org