Re: NANFA-- Happy Birthday Chris!

Christopher Scharpf (ichthos_at_charm.net)
Mon, 27 Aug 2001 18:40:23 -0400

> Welcome to the 40-and-over club, Chris, where we're all mature adults (Want
> an Ichiro bobblehead to go along with your Cal Ripken one?)

Thanks, Jay. I don't feel a day over 40. (I feel 3 days over.)

No thanks to the Ichiro bobble-head doll. Stephanie's Mom sent me an Ichiro
t-shirt as a b'day gift...and I've actually worn it!

BTW, I don't own a Ripken bobble-head doll. But I *do* own a Ripken
Christmas tree ornament.

BTW #2, Cal Ripken and I share the same birthday, albeit he's one year older
than I.

Chris

The following is to prevent this from being a gratuitous off-topic,
non-native-fish-related post:

Among egg-mimic darters, females go for males with knobbier fins
Egg-mimic darters comprise four described species in which breeding
males develop large knobs on the ends of rays above the second dorsal fin.
The knobs are similar in size and color to darter eggs, and are used to
attract females to the nest, presumably because females are more likely to
add eggs to a nest in which eggs are already present. Rex Meade Strange of
Southeast Missouri State University tested female preference for male fin
knobs in a series of aquarium experiments. Using wild-caught specimens of
lollypop darter (Etheostoma neopterum), guardian darter, (E. oophylax), and
egg-mimic darter (E. pseudovulatum), Strange removed the fin ornamentation
from one of a pair of males and allowed a female to choose between knobbed
and non-knobbed males. In all 33 trials, females deposited no eggs in nests.
guarded by the non-knobbed males.
"The data presented here represent the first empirical evidence
supporting the hypothesis that female mate choice plays a role in
maintaining fin ornamentation in egg-mimic darters," Strange concluded. His
study appeared in the June 2001 issue (vol. 16, no. 2) of the Journal of
Freshwater Ecology.

/-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
/"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