You might want to make sure the ferry between Ft. Morgan and Dauphin Island
is running this time of year. In addition to the list that our
killifish-biased prez mentioned, if you make it to Dapuhin Island, and
sample the marshes by the airport, you're also likely to encounter diamond
killifish (Adinia xenica), sheepshead minnow (Cyprinodon variegatus),
Fundulus grandis, Fundulus pulvereus, and others, plus lots of gobies and
other fun estuarine stuff. As you drive across the panhandle of Florida on
I-10, any small clear streams in the Apalachicola River drainage (from
Quincy west to about Chipley), you're likely to pick up the newly described
Apalachee shiner (Pteronotropis grandipinnis). Once you get west of that,
you'll see "real" P. hypselopterus, and flagfins to boot. All of the
"sailfin shiners" in Florida are undescribed taxa (soon to be described by
R.D. Suttkus of Tulane University). If, upon leaving Dauphin Island, you
take AL Hwy 188 west towards Grand Bay (and I-10), if you keep your eyes
peeled and drive slow, you're likely to see some really nice pitcher plant
bogs alongside the road. They might already have "flowers" up already- you
should see flashes of white, yellow, and maroon real low to the ground. At
the least, it's a fun and scenic drive. Any small stream you drive across
has the potential to provide lots of fun and way cool fish.
Best,
Dave
>In southern AL, an interesting trip would be to the Fort Morgan peninsula
>on the southeastern corner of Mobile Bay. You can find both >Fundulus
>chrysotus and F. (sic) rubrifrons there in fresh water >environments, both
>being pretty fish.
>There are permanent ponds behind the dune system in the Fort Morgan
>peninsula that often contain both species. A little north of there, in
>central Baldwin County, are also found F. escambiae and F. notti in swampy
>waters. Once in that region, there's a ferry across the mouth >of Mobile
>Bay to Dauphin Island from which it's not so far north to >pick up I-10 one
>way or another.
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