--- Bob Bock <bockhouse_at_earthlink.net> wrote:
> Hi, all. Last Sunday, several NANFA members met up
> to do some collecting in
> Paint Branch Creek, which runs along the edge of the
> University of Maryland
> campus in College Park.
>
> Chris and Stephanie Scharpf joined us from
> Baltimore, Harry Knaub made the
> trip down from York, PA, and Ed Bielaus came from
> nearby Bethesda. The
> creek is in on of the last places you'd expect a
> creek to be, behind a
> treeline at the edge of a massive asphalt parking
> lot. Judging from the
> species diversity, the water quality appeared to be
> very high, especially
> for a stream the drains a heavily populated
> Washington, D.C. suburb.
>
> For the most part, the stream had a Sandy bottom.
> In the slow-moving, flat
> stretches, we found several minnow species. For my
> money, the most
> impressive of these was the satin fin shiner,
> http://www.cnr.vt.edu/efish/families/satinfin.html.
>
> Not only did we find these in the sandy flats, but a
> few were also schooling
> in the riffles just below the bridge that spanned
> nearby Route 1. These
> were a really pretty fish. They're gilt-edged fins
> glittered in the
> sunlight as the lazily held in the current below the
> riffles. They'd
> probably be a really nice pond show fish, especially
> if they had a current
> from a slow water fall to swim against.
>
> Other species in the sandy flats included
> swallowtail
>
(http://www.cnr.vt.edu/efish/families/swallowtail.html)
> and spot tail
>
(http://www.nanfa.org/meetings/2001/pictures/cs/cs.htm)
> shiners.
>
> An unexpected finding was banded killifish, which
> I'd only seen in the
> freshwater parts of the tidal Potomac. These were
> easy to net after
> stirring up the sandy bottom. The fish showed up to
> feed upon items
> dislodged from the substrate.
>
http://www.dnr.state.md.us/fisheries/juvindex/banded.jpg
>
> Further down stream, just below the riffles, we
> encountered both longnose
>
(http://www.cnr.vt.edu/efish/families/longnosedace.html)
> and blacknose
>
(http://www.dec.state.ny.us/website/dfwmr/fish/fishspecs/minotext.html#longn
> osedace). Both are nice, peaceful minnows that do
> well in a community
> coldwater tank. The former is one of my all time
> favorites. I call them
> airplane fish, because in an aquarium, they spread
> their pectoral fins wide
> and glide into the filter current, reminding me of
> an airpline. While
> snorkeling, Stephanie said she also identified some
> cutlips minnows,
>
http://www.dec.state.ny.us/website/dfwmr/fish/fishspecs/minotext.html#cutlip
> sminnow. These are a bottom dwelling native minnow,
> best kept in a single
> species tank. (In close quarters, they will eat the
> scales--and even the
> eyes--of other fishes kept with them.
>
> We also found both white
>
(http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/tools/ndfishes/sucker.htm)
> and Northern
> hog
>
(http://www.fs.fed.us/oonf/species_acct/aqua/northernhogsucker.jpg
> )
> suckers. These are gentle bottom feeders that are
> often difficult to keep
> in captivity. They feed on algae covered rocks on
> the bottom of stream
> beds. NANFA member Dan Logan once told me that the
> trick to keeping them
> alive is to rotate a fresh supply of stream rocks
> through an aquarium.
> /"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
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> / For more information about NANFA, visit our web
> page, http://www.nanfa.org
=====
Bill Hoppe
Yellville Arkansas
/-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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/ reflect the beliefs or goals of the North American Native Fishes
/ Association"
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/ 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
