18 replies to this topic

[Michael Wolfe]

I am a fish from the land of cotton
sometimes I'm almost forgotten
look me up, look me up, look me up Dixie Chub

In Dixieland where I was spawnin'
early on a frosty mawnin'
look away, look away, look away Dixie Chub

I'm glad that I'm a Dixie, away, away
A Dixie Chub will be my love
we'll live and die in Dixie

Away, away, away down south in Dixie

We had a Dixie Chub day on Saturday. Four NANFAns joined up down in Griffin Georgia to seine a small creek running through town to help the local water department determine what if any life was in the small ditch... and we all got a surprise. First, I was surprised to see just how small this stream was. And then when we got in we were surprised to see how many fish were really there. And then we were really surprised to see the Flint River Native Dixie Chub over in this stream which is actually part of the Ocmulgee Drainage. Now granted we are only a mile or so from the Flint Drainage. But I am not sure if there were any record of Dixie Chubs outside of the Flint-Chattahoochee-Apalachicola Drainage. And as you can see from the tubercules they were breeding and doing very well in this small ditch.

As was this guy, who was also in full horned glory and showin' off his construction technique right there in the middle of town... in the middle of a 2 foot wide, 8 inch deep stream. Interesting to note that in such a small stream this breeding male was only 6 inches or so in length, much like we saw last year in the Stone Mountain trip.

In addition to these chubby residents we also found the expected Notropis... but maybe a new variant? So we talk about yellowfins, and the yellowfins that are white, and the ones that are orange and red and whatever... but what are these the flannel grey yellowfins?

Instead of the fins turning any other color, they seemed to be getting almost milky white but also had so much color in their fins and on top of their heads, that it seemed that the yellow was being replaced by a flannel grey color on top of their heads and on most of the fins. This was true for the female and the males, but most evident on the males... here you can see a colorful man and his pleasantly plump lady-friend.

So add another variable to the "what color are yellowfins when they spawn" debate.

We also found crayfish, salamanders, and even a damsel fly larva... so never doubt the ability of a small stream to support a little slice of nature if we will just take care of it. After the surprise of these three hardy species in the little ditch we headed another hour south to try to find Dixie Chubs at their type locality in Taylor County, Georgia.

We stopped at Little Patsiliga Creek and, although we had to work for a while, we were ultimately rewarded with more Dixie Chubs... along with Golden Shiners and these nicely colored up Weed Shiners. I had never seen them in color like this before and would not have recognized them, but Camm Swift was there to my ID rescue.

We also saw Bluegill, Redear, and Dollar Sunfish. And of course, no Georgia trip is truly complete until you kick out some woody debris and come up with this guy... I am going to stick with Blackbanded Darter on this one... although we were in the Flint and there is a slight hint of color along the tips of the dorsal fin... naw' lets just stick with P. nigrofasciata

Thanks to Camm and Jeff and Marcus for joining me on this part volunteer work effort in Griffin, part chasing type localities with me day... but a day that turned out to be all Dixie Chubs, all the time... look away, look away, look me up, Dixie Chub!

[mattknepley]

LOVE this trip report! Fun stuff, and really great pictures. I don't recall a more yellow native that I've seen; beautiful fish! Only thing that'd make this report better was if I'd been part of it! One of these days the Fates will mess up and I'll be able to sneak over and help you out with one of your projects.

What kind of feedback did you get from the local powers that be in Griffin in regards to the management of the crick? I wish I had half the energy you had, Michael. You really do NANFA proud with all your outreach.

[mattknepley]

"Instead of the fins turning any other color, they seemed to be getting almost milky white but also had so much color in their fins and on top of their heads, that it seemed that the yellow was being replaced by a flannel grey color on top of their heads and on most of the fins. This was true for the female and the males, but most evident on the males..."

Somewhere Mollie is crying...

[Michael Wolfe]

What kind of feedback did you get from the local powers that be in Griffin in regards to the management of the crick?

Actually NANFA member James Moore is the Public Work Deputy Director for Stormwater for the city. He asked us to do this as he was applying for a grant to re-furbish this section of the stream and replace some undersized culverts and such. I even wrote a letter of NANFA's support for this project. Well, the good news is that just on Wednesday, they received the gran money to replace the culverts and do the stream side restoration. Which is really good, because although we found all this nice breeding activity in the one section... we found almost nothing in the upper section... seems that maybe the fish cannot get up through a poorly designed and undersized culvert that is acting as almost a dam. Or at least they cannot in any significant numbers. Anyway, I already called James with a verbal report and we will get him a written version as soon as Camm sends it.

Somewhere Mollie is crying...

I thought the same thing, so I sent her the pictures as well and she already responded to me... says she has seen this before... particularly the grey on the top of the head... so she was not caught off guard by these pictures... but it was new for me to see that many little black melanophore (I guess) on the fins.

[Michael Wolfe]

Does anybody know if Dixie is the sister-species to the Sandhills chub (S. lumbee - looks just like it) or are they each independently evolved from atromac ancestral stock?

I think they are... I just re-read Carol Johnson's re-description paper for the Dixie Chub this weekend, and I think she indicated that they are sister species. I dont have that pdf on this computer, but will look again tonight and see if I can pull a quote or something from it that answers your question.

[mattknepley]

Glad to hear that the stream is destined for restoration. I bet the culverts are a culprit. They're starting to get attention for their habitat killing. In the Orvis catalogs I keep getting (and can afford nothing out of) they feature a group working to replace culverts in trout streams. Just looking around here I can see how a poorly done culvert is the same thing as a dam.

I've noticed the flannel grey around these parts, too. The joke was just too easy to pass up. Interesting though that it's new to you, Michael, as you've been all over the SC / GA border regions and certainly seen more water and fish than I.

[Michael Wolfe]

Those weed shiners are awesome. I assumed that weeds were just western coastals but my coastals sure do not color up like that. Very cool find.

Its a little hard to see in this photo because I use a white background but the diagnostic that made Camm sure that he was sure was the distinct coloring on only the last few rays of the anal fin... that made it a weed shiner for sure!

What I think is different about those yellowfins is how the color in the fins seems to only be on the margins rather than diffuse throughout the fins like I typically see.

Agree, again it is hard to tell because of my white background, but the center of the fins were milky white (almost Cyprinella looking) with the black pigmentation spotted through them. This was also true on all the fins except the caudal.

[Michael Wolfe]

I was making a joke about Halliween Darters

[Michael Wolfe]

Refreshing this thread after three years!  The stream rehab was delaying and then worked, and now finally completed.  We returned to see what was there this spring.  The local perosn there, was concerned that maybe we would find nothing... but we (NANFAns Keith H and Jeff W and his nephew Clovis, and I) actually did rather well.

 

Full set of pictures in my gallery. http://gallery.nanfa...fe/griffin2017/

 

Just to document things. 

• We saw only the same there fish species; Yellowfin Shiner (only one small one was kept and photographed, but there are likely more), Bluehead Chub (including the tuberculate male), Dixie Chub. ​
• Tadpoles (seemed like they were all bullfrogs)
• Salamanders (they all looked to be the same to me)
• Beetles (one I photographed the other not)
• Worms (two varieties at least)
• Dragonfly nymphs (tons... is that the right word for the aquatic stage?)
• Crayfish (they all looked to be the same species, but I do not know which)
• Snake (midlands water snake I am guessing, and beautifully orange and maroon colored)

So although we did not increase out fish species count (yet), there was a ton of aquatic life!

 

We also visited another location... Ison Branch just south of town. Only captured four species (yellowfins, blueheads, redbreast, and gambusia), but there were likely more that we did just not get to sample... and boy they were numerous!  Hundreds of fish is not an exaggeration... the substrate was very much large cobble, and difficult to sample with a seine, so we definitely missed some fish that are likely there (just more to do on another day!). 

 

[Chasmodes]

Beautiful fish and a nice report.  I liked the original report too, very cool to reflect back and revive that thread.

[Casper]

Cool... I was just down that way hunting the Dry Land Fish.  As we were walking creekside i saw shiners gathering and noted subtly colored heads and white fins.  I soon thought of Yellowfins and have never snorkeled amongst them. The last day i bought a mask and snorkel from 6 Dollar General and stripped to my underwear.  Cold water shrivels most parts and the cheap acrylic, light glare, tannin, no old eye correction nor magnification and excessive warriness by the aquatic lifeforms yielded only fast moving blurs.  I did note madtoms, crawdads, sunfish and tuberculed stonies.  Mystery shiners and chubs of some sort.  And standing on the high bank an active Bluehead Chub mound.  From the high bank we could see 2 males building and sparring but upon walking closer they fled.  All these fish were mysteriously wary.  Next time i will have proper gear. For every 2 days of Dry Land Fishing i will have one of Wet Water Snorkeling.

[fritz]

Hey Micahael

 

this would make an interesting article for American Currents - before and after and NANFA involvement

[Michael Wolfe]

Yes sir. I can do that. I already talked to the local sponsors about that possibility.

[gerald]

... with some detail on the stream rehab and culvert replacement work, please.