As Bruce said, these are some determined fishes. It is common for
people to use them as live fish bait. Instead of keeping them in live
wells or tanks, they simply put them on wet seaweed and put them in the
fridge! They live for days...OUT OF THE WATER...on the wet seaweed. I
have personally took them from full strength seawater and put them into
"full strength" freshwater, with no ill effects. Did I mention living in
putrefied water, sewage, overheated high marsh ditches, etc...
Like Patrick said (they filled his traps), we seine quite a bit, and at
times we have caught so many that we could no longer pull the seine, or
land it on the beach. We would have to let half the load out! We have
several species of Fundulus in the New England region, The Striped
Killifish (F. majalis), the Banded Killifish (F. diaphanus), the Spot-Fin
Killifish (F. luciae [at the extreme end of it's range]), and of course
the Mummichog (F. heteroclitus). All are very pretty fish, especially
male mummichogs in breeding colors. They are tank hardy, eat anything,
and are not at all demanding. The Spot-fin's I have noticed can be a
little sensitive (and Bruce would know this better) probably due to their
natural history of living high on the marsh, in crazy water/temp/salinity
variations.
"Catcher of the Mummies"
Rick Rego.
On Wed, 24 May 2000 23:39:54 EDT "Bruce Stallsmith"
<fundulus_at_hotmail.com> writes:
> No doubt about it, mummichogs (_F. heteroclitus_) have an incredibly
> strong
> life force. I've collected them for research and put them in a
> freezer both
> to euthanize them and to store them for a short while. I've pulled
> them out
> of the freezer over an hour after putting them in, with no water,
> the fish
> all frozen solid, and when I put them into a jar of ethanol they
> would come
> back to life, thrashing about. They're the only fish that would be
> still
> alive after such a treatment.
>
> --Bruce Stallsmith
> Huntsville, AL
>
> >I used to collect in Connecticut in brackish water sometimes,and
> those
> >mummichogs would litterally fill my traps.
> >I would also catch some pupfishes and banded killies along with
> them.They
> >are a lot weaker in the minnow bucket and then at home in the tank.
> >I have never seen a tougher fish than the mummichog.
> >
> >My 2 cents
> >
> >PV
>
>
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