Re: NANFA-- Bluenose Shiners & Pond Update- Recovery from

Jeffrey Fullerton (tcmajorr_at_westol.com)
Wed, 24 Sep 2003 02:21:31 -0400

> But do make sure the bottom of the pond is silt-free. Welaka and hubbsi (and
> centrarchids) prefer spawning over gravel or clean, bare areas. You don't
> want any silt or mulm to smother the eggs,
>
Could this be why they use sunfish nests, being that Centrarchids are so
diligent at fanning the eggs and keeping them free of silt?
Sounds like a good way for a group of gravel spawning minnows to move
from flowing water habitats to still or slow flowing waters. Do you
think they may have started out as nest associates with chubs or suckers
and then moved to sunfishes?

In regard to concerns for the safety of breeding stock and offspring-
Cyprinids seem good at keeping out of the way of sunfishes- at least in
a spacious outside pond. My Northern Redbellies are doing ok with Dollar
Sunfishes and I've had other minnows with Pumpkinseed in the past and
they seem to hold their own.

Wonder if Bluehead Shiners would use Bantam Sunfish nests. They are from
the same range too and probably the least aggressive sunfish besides
Enneacanthus.

If I ever get the opportunity to work with Blueheads, I'd really go out
on a limb to provide a good habitat for them and aim at maintaining them
and their associates in a colony setup- try to have a large breeding
population and keep it going for the foreseeable future. Success would
be very gratifying- on par with breeding various turtles and Marsupial
Frogs for the first time! Plus I could experiment with different
Centrarchids in different ponds and find out their whole range of
possible nest associates. This would be useful in determinig stocking
combinations for restoring wild populations if it ever becomes
necessary.

Jeff
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