NANFA-L-- Millions of minnows
Irate Mormon (archimedes-in-bayspringstel.net)
Sun, 6 Mar 2005 21:54:17 -0500
I took the opportunity on this, one of my rare days off, to revisit some of the
streams near Yazoo City which I haven't been to in a number of years. We
sampled some of these-in-the 2000 convention when we had that 2-year drought.
They look very different now. One of the streams which was almost completely
dry (Short Creek) is now WAY over my head - I didn't even attempt to go in. But
my favorite site was looking VERY good,-in-least from the rickety wooden bridge
that crosses it. When I got my feet wet I realized that I couldn't put my net
in the water without catching fish. It was literally TEEMING with fish -
schools of Cyprinella lutrensis and Luxilis chrysocephalus were everywhere, and
there were thousands of fish in every school. From little bitty protein slivers
to great big honking bull males. I caught rainbow darters until I got tired of
it. I could either spot them as they skittered across the pebbles, or drag my
net through a nice looking chute - either way, I got rainbows. There were a few
other species too, but no more than 6 total. Low diversity but very high
biomass. The water was absolutely crystal clear - you could see a mile through it.
--Irate
"Myth #2: If you see a jellyfish, don't touch it."
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