Hmt321, Wegl2001, dredcon and myself met up to sample the waters in Baldwin county near Mobile on Wednesday.
Dredcon, hmt321 and I decided to sample a creek arm on the Tensaw river until Wegl2001 had a chance to meet up with us.
This creek arm is a very deep tannin stained water that appears to have no flow. In the growing season the banks are lined with vegetation to the point where the water gets very deep. The bottom is a mix of sand and mud.

Here we mostly used our dipnets but we also had a chance to seine a little as well. we found the following fishes:
Fundulus nottii Bayou Topminnow
Fundulus blairae Western Starhead Topminnow
Fundulus chryostus Golden Topminnow
Gambusia ??
Heterandria formosa Least Killifish
Enneacanthus gloriosus Bluespotted Sunfish
Lepomis gulosus Warmouth
Lepomis macrochirus Bluegill ?? young
Lepomis microlophus Redear Sunfish ?? young
Etheostoma fusiforme Swamp Darter
Elassoma zonatum Banded Pygmy Sunfish
Trinectes maculatus Hogchoker
musk turtle?

We snapped a few photos below from this location.






The next stop was one of the most beautiful little creeks I've sampled. This was a very small creek of sand and debris mix and relatively fast flow compared to the area (at least as far as I know). The creek was mostly wooded with undercut banks. Where the sun shined a vallisneria grew with gusto among other vegetation. As you would expect in a wooded stream many branches provided cover for the various fishes.

We found:
Lythrurus roseipinnis Cherryfin Shiner
Pteronotropis hypselopterus Sailfin Shiner
Pteronotropis signipinnis Flagfin Shiner
some cyprinid we never ID'd
Semotilus thoreauianus Dixie Chub
Noturus leptacanthus Speckled Madtom (might have been funebris)
Percina nigrofasciata Blackbanded Darter

Flagfin photo below:

Menidia beryllina (Cope 1867); Inland Silverside

Next we went to a part of a creek that slows to the point that no flow appears to exist. The bottom is very soft (lose your shoe soft) and weed choked at the right time of year.

We found:
Esox niger Chain Pickerel
Fundulus nottii Bayou Topminnow
Gambusia ??
Enneacanthus gloriosus Bluespotted Sunfish
Lepomis gulosus Warmouth
Lepomis marginatus Dollar Sunfish
Lepomis punctatus Spotted Sunfish
Micropterus salmoides Largemouth Bass (dredcon hook & line)
Etheostoma fusiforme Swamp Darter
Elassoma evergladei Everglades Pygmy Sunfish
Elassoma zonatum Banded Pygmy Sunfish
snake & turtle










The next location we sampled was a backwater of the Tensaw river near Mobile bay. This area had a surprisingly firm bottom of mud. The shore was lined with a hard cane and small emergent grass like plant (possibly young cane). This area might have a little salt in it from time to time.

Breevoortia patronus Gulf menhaden young??
Notropis candidus Silverside Shiner??
Notropis petersoni Coastal Shiner??
Menidia beryllina Inland Silverside
Fundulus Jenkinsi Saltmarsh topminnow ??
Lucania parva Rainwater Killifish







The last place we sampled was a rather close to the previous site but further downstream. The shore was nothing but oyster shells.

Breevoortia patronus Gulf menhaden young??
Notropis candidus Silverside Shiner??
Notropis petersoni Coastal Shiner??
Menidia beryllina Inland Silverside
Micropterus salmoides Largemouth Bass
Syngnathus scovelli Gulf Pipefish





Wow! after typing that I realize how much fun I had. Thanks for showing such a good time and thanks for the photos guys. These photos came from wegl2001, hmt321, dredcon and myself.

I'm sure I'm missing some info or fish so please fill them in for me.

I had a GREAT time and look forward to getting in the water again.

You collected an interesting range of fish. I would agree with your ID of Fundulus jenkinsi, yours might be the best picture I've seen of the species. From the way you described the site it seems to be surprisingly fresh for jenkinsi. I wouldn't expect to find them together with largemouth bass.

Very pretty little Nerodia fasciata there

Yeah and the fish are cool too...

Very pretty little Nerodia fasciata there

Yeah and the fish are cool too...

It seems the Southern watersnake is quite tame compared to it's northern counterpart with the same name. That snake didn't even try to bite me.

You collected an interesting range of fish. I would agree with your ID of Fundulus jenkinsi, yours might be the best picture I've seen of the species. From the way you described the site it seems to be surprisingly fresh for jenkinsi. I wouldn't expect to find them together with largemouth bass.

This was indeed an interesting range of fish and sampling site. I'm certain I could have spent an entire day at this location. I hope to focus on this area again in the near future. It seemed fully fresh water at the time of sampling (according to the dredcon test). Wegl2001 indicates this area can be rather salty from time to time depending on the rain. He expected a greater salt concentration at this time due to the recent dry conditions. I should bring a hydrometer with me next time.

It seems the Southern watersnake is quite tame compared to it's northern counterpart with the same name. That snake didn't even try to bite me.

It was a Banded these are wusses compared to the Northerns or midlands..For some reason the Psycho Evil gene was left out in the fasciata complex of Nerodia..Great looking snake regardless...

That Elassoma zonatum pic is interesting. Our Atlantic slope zonatum are more elongate, but in your pic I can really see the resemblance to E.alabamae in body shape (short with large head) and fin shape. It gives me a better intuitive sense of how an isolated ancestral zonatum pop eventually became the spring pygmy. Heres a Cape Fear basin zonie pair:

The duck pond at the Gulfarium in Ft Walton is slam full of those jenkinsi silversides, and that water is very fresh. The Sheepshead pupfish in the nearby salty creek can't even live in it because it's so fresh. Weird, eh? The pond also has some truly amazing Sailfin Mollies in it, again despite the lack of salt. It really bugged me until I figured out that the duckpond's water is quite hard. ( although apparently not hard enough to support the pupfish )

Hey, if you guys like that snake, then maybe the next time you go down there you'll find a Farancia or two. That'll make for a nice picture indeed!

All those pteronotropis are so similar in appearance. Flagfins just might be my favorite though.