>Mark writes:
>>>>I'm curious to know how long lived other people's small native fish are.
>
>Jan responds:
>
>My impression is that for smaller fishes - longevity in an aquarium can be
>2-3 X lifespan in nature. I have kept several species that lived 4-5 years
>in an aquarium, but only 2-3 years in the wild. A coastal shiner from
>Florida lived almost 3 years in my 10-gallon tank but in the Hillsboroiugh
>River would have been an annual. I have some Topkea shiners that are now 6
>years old but most live only two years in their native streams.
>
>This is one area where NANFA members could really contribute to fish biology
>since most biologists do not have the time or facilities to maintain
>individuals or cohorts for an indefinite period of time. It necessitates
>careful record-keeping and special handling of captive fishes, though (i.e.,
>minimal mixing with other conspecifics).
>
>I started keeping a native fish aquarium notebook in 1999. I wish I would
>have started sooner. Its taught me a lot about longevity, handling-related
>mortality, behavior, etc.
-- Jeremy Tiemann Biological Field Assistant Illinois Natural History Survey /----------------------------------------------------------------------------- /"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 </x-flowed>