I caught these fish in western NY and need confirmation of their id.
Bluntnose Minnow?
id help
Started by
Guest_thegreensunfish_*
, Jun 08 2013 08:17 AM
15 replies to this topic
#1
Guest_thegreensunfish_*
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Posted 08 June 2013 - 08:17 AM
Hi,
I caught these fish in western NY and need confirmation of their id.
Bluntnose Minnow?
I caught these fish in western NY and need confirmation of their id.
Bluntnose Minnow?
#5
Guest_Skipjack_*
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Posted 08 June 2013 - 10:03 AM
Pretty good photos. First fish is a bluntnose. Second I would call a spotfin, though I am not familiar with satinfins. It looks more like a spotfin than it does steelcolor, and apparently a satinfin is nearly identical to a steelcolor. Third is a brook silversides. Green sunfish has a leech.
#6
Guest_EricaWieser_*
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Posted 08 June 2013 - 10:24 AM
I agree.Green sunfish has a leech.
Another way to tell a leech from a worm, by the way, is that a leech's butt stays attached. It's hard to demonstrate their distinctive walking behavior with pictures. Here's a video that shows how they move:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ye4N2ZeJESA
See the questing head and the stationary butt? Whenever you see something move like that, it's a definitive diagnosis: leech.
Edited by EricaWieser, 08 June 2013 - 10:24 AM.
#7
Guest_Kanus_*
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Posted 08 June 2013 - 11:27 AM
I agree with Matt on all of those. I have seen tons and tons of Satinfins, but have little experience with Spotfins. That being said, that doesn't look quite right for a satinfin to me. They should only be on the Atlantic slope also, so depending where in Western NY, I'd say spotfin based on that too.
#8
Guest_fundulus_*
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Posted 08 June 2013 - 08:18 PM
The shiner is a Spotfin based on the pigment on the posterior dorsal rays. But they certainly look very much like Steelcolors.
#9
Guest_Skipjack_*
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Posted 08 June 2013 - 08:39 PM
Bruce, If you can tell a spotfin female from a steelcolor female without counting anal fin rays, which the count can overlap, I want to here it. I can tell breeding males very easily, but otherwise? Do you have any good tips. I know spiloptera has less pigmentation between the dorsal spines, but is there anything else that you look for?
#10
Guest_thegreensunfish_*
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Posted 09 June 2013 - 04:13 AM
Here's a picture of the spotfish's anal fin. It's hard to get the rays to show up but I think there are 8. And about the leech, I've never seen it move. Would this be typical of a leech?
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#11
Guest_Skipjack_*
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Posted 09 June 2013 - 07:27 AM
8 makes it spiloptera usually. Leeches only move when they have a need. Poke it, and it will likely contract. Only thing you could confuse with a leech would be an anchor worm, which looks quite different, and usually attaches to the base of a fin.
#12
Guest_thegreensunfish_*
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Posted 09 June 2013 - 07:56 AM
Should I pick it off with a pair of tweezers?
#13
Guest_fundulus_*
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Posted 09 June 2013 - 02:46 PM
In answer to Skipjack, partially by where it's found, and female spotfins have more pronounced pigmentation in the posterior dorsal rays, along with a brighter, silvery body color compared to steelcolors. I don't think there are any really sharp differences between females of the two species.
#14
Guest_EricaWieser_*
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Posted 09 June 2013 - 08:56 PM
If you do, make sure you get the head. Leaving part of the leech in the wound can cause infection.Should I pick it off with a pair of tweezers?
If you have a spare all walls no decorations tank, you could move the fish into there for a little bit, wait for the leech to drop off, then net the fish out and drain the tank completely.
I've seen several different species of leech. Some of them lay their eggs on things while others carry their young on their back like the suriname toad, but less invasively. I wouldn't want to put a potentially self-cloning, definitely pathogenic leech species in any tank with substrate and plants and lots of hiding spaces.
Edited by EricaWieser, 09 June 2013 - 08:58 PM.
#15
Guest_Skipjack_*
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Posted 09 June 2013 - 09:05 PM
Bruce, I have a real hard time with the females. Thought maybe there was a trick.
Pull the leech. No danger of leaving a head.Scrape it off with a fingernail even.
Pull the leech. No danger of leaving a head.Scrape it off with a fingernail even.
#16
Guest_EricaWieser_*
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Posted 09 June 2013 - 09:14 PM
Oh, interesting. I googled it and you're right. I guess I don't need to be as careful with leeches as I am with ticks. That's reassuringPull the leech. No danger of leaving a head.
Edited by EricaWieser, 09 June 2013 - 09:15 PM.
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