What are the "lucky stones" Shawn is referring to in the message below?
Steven A. Ellis
Kennesaw, GA
At 12:00 PM 2/28/01 -0500, you wrote:
>Below is a message I received from Shawn who posted the pictures and
>questions about the mystery fish. I had written to him saying that it was
>our collective opinion that it's some kind of red drum and/or hybrid.
>
>--Bruce Stallsmith
>---------------------------------------------------------------
>
>Hi Bruce :
>
>A red drum is something we haven't considered, although one of our
>guesses is closely related - freshwater drum. A couple of things steered
>us away from that answer though. First, the caudal fin of a freshwater
>drum (sheepshead) is rounded, whereas the fish in question has an
>indented caudal fin. Second, the mystery fish does not have that
>steep sloped forehead typical of a freshwater drum, though it is
>difficult to tell for sure because of the way the angler is holding it's
>head. Third, this angler has caught freshwater drum before in Lake
>Champlain, Vermont, and has always removed their "lucky stones"
>as he called them - the otoliths. He told me that he tried to get the
>lucky stones out of this fish (he also thought it was a sheepshead)
>but couldn't find them. This would say to me that if a guy who
>normally takes them out couldn't find them in a "drum" of this size,
>it probably wasn't a drum.
>
>But, we could be wrong. At this point, it's the most plausible
>identification so far. Freshwater drum are native to Lake Champlain, only
>a hop, skip and a jump away from Lake Bomoseen - and angler here in
>Vermont are well known - for taking fish from one lake and putting them
>in another - for kicks I guess !
>
>Thanks ! -- Shawn.
>
>
>_________________________________________________________________
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>
>
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