I also posted the following on my facebook page.
About 64 years ago, Ellis, Ginny (older siblings) & I unsuccessfully tried to catch a strange fish. About 15+ yrs ago, each year when I went to VT for my family's reunion, I resumed the quest for this strange fish. Several years ago, my brother-in-law, Earl, started going with me each time I looked for them. We always went to a mountain stream-let by the old Williams place where I had originally seen them. We spotted the fish several times, but numerous attempts to catch one failed . They are 1-2 inches long, they sit on the bottom of the rocky/sandy stream bed, perfectly still, perfectly camouflaged, and only dart away at the last moment when you get within an inch of them.
Last year hurricane Irene turned the stream-let into a raging torrent and dashed my hopes of seeing them this year or I feared, perhaps ever again. However, this year, Earl managed to catch 2 of the fish using his baseball cap. We took pictures and released them. Then I expended significant effort to identify what they are. The answer is, they are "Tessellated Darters". Maybe it doesn't sound like much to catch and identify a tiny fish that at full size is about 2" long, but this fish has been in my mind (my curiosity bank) for 64 years and I am ecstatic now to catch & identify them. I credit http://www.nanfa.org/ for helping me to identify the fish. (They are a pretty neat non-profit organization.) You may want to check out their website if you are at all interested in native fish besides just the standard sport fish.
The link below shows pictures I took of the Tessellated Darter Earl caught.
http://www.facebook....=1&l=94253fb848
Additional info not included on the facebook posting:
By the way, the big one he caught, about an eighth of an inch longer, flipped out of the cap when we looked at the one we had captured and temporarily put in a jar. We lost him before we got any pictures of him.
We caught him in a stream beside Lahar Road in Marlboro VT. The stream feeds the Branch Brook that we swam in every summer as children. Yet we never saw the Darter in the Branch Brook. I suspect that there are Tessellated Darters in the Branch Brook. We probably never saw them there because they were in areas of moving water. Or maybe because we were older, and more active in the bigger pools. I was probably 5 or 6 when we first saw them. My sister is one year older; my brother is 2 years older. We were sitting and playing in the tiny pool when we discovered the Darters. My father was logging off the old Williams place and we had gone with him but were left to stay out of the way by the stream.
I'm excited to have identified a Tessellated Darter after 64 years
Started by
Guest_inigoman_*
, Sep 06 2012 05:31 AM
9 replies to this topic
#2
Michael Wolfe
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Posted 06 September 2012 - 06:40 AM
Congratulations Gene... I think it is great that you were able to identify your quest...certainly shows both the yours (after so many years) and the darters's after the flushing out by Irene). Glad you found us and hope that this sparks you on to investigate the other natives that I am sure are right there in your little stream-let.
Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing. - Benjamin Franklin
#3
Guest_exasperatus2002_*
Guest_exasperatus2002_*
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Posted 06 September 2012 - 08:04 AM
Glad to hear you were able to fullfill a dream. Im my parts, the most common darter is the tessellated. They like the slower protected areas with a sandy bottom. My best chances to find them are around bridge footings, back water eddys or slower riffles.
#7
Guest_butch_*
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Posted 06 September 2012 - 06:25 PM
Well it's not a 100% darter and the head is too big for a darter but right size for a scuplin....Still it looks like young scuplins I caught before.Don't think that's a sculpin . First photo mouth appears way to small and shape in some others a bit too thin up front. Though photos are not good ID quality for sure.
Edited by butch, 06 September 2012 - 06:27 PM.
#8
Guest_Kanus_*
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Posted 06 September 2012 - 07:39 PM
On the Atlantic slope of northern Virginia, Tessellated darters are a fish that I have seen nearly every collecting trip for the past few years, and I will agree that neither the body shape nor the pattern look like a tessie to me. Mottled pattern and smooth skin, along with large head, lead me to believe sculpin as well. The head is not as broad or flat as I am used to seeing in adults, but it looks spot on for a subadult.
#9
Guest_keepnatives_*
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Posted 06 September 2012 - 10:36 PM
I agree it doesn't look much like a tessellated darter but even juvenile slimy sculpins I've seen have a broader head from above. But the location does sound like sculpin territory. I concede, should have known better then to 2nd guess Dave on sculpin ID don't know what I was thinking 
#10
Guest_inigoman_*
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Posted 04 August 2013 - 11:51 PM
I made the annual trip to the family reunion again this year. It gave me the opportunity to try once again to try to catch and get better pictures of the fish. This year I caught 2 fish that were 2 inches long. I had only seen 1 inch fish before. Yet I think it is the same kind. I did get much better pictures. Previously we had always seen the fish in still water. This year we did not see any fish. We caught them with a dip net in faster water. The first fish was light colored but darkened and when I caught the second darker one, the first fish was almost as dark as the second one. I have posted this year's picutres and some of last year's pictures in the gallery under "seeking identification - slimy sculpin?" I think from these pictures that you'all are right. I think it is a slimy sculpin.
Thanks for your interest and your help.
Thanks for your interest and your help.
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