24 replies to this topic

[Kanus]

Hey everyone, I figured I should probably share some of the work I've been doing here on the forum. I have started a facebook and instagram account (Link to facebook page can be found in my signature) to showcase the amazing beauty and diversity around us. I apologize if I've shared any of these photos on the forum before, but I figure not everyone is a facebook user, so maybe if no one objects I'll try to keep this relatively updated as I post stuff.

Grumpybass is a distant relative of the online phenomenon Grumpy Cat. Unfortunately, cold blooded animals just don't get the same attention, thus highlighting the need for my page in order to show people the charm our less appreciated critters have. While I'm speaking about Grumpycat...

 

I recently had an opportunity to meet the real Grumpy Cat and I was indeed star-struck.

 

 

 

While we of course all appreciate the fish around us, I'd just like to remind people that the world of aquatic invertebrates can be fascinating and beautiful too. I've been told this is a mayfly in the Leucrocuta genus, probably Leucrocuta juno.

 

 

 

 

 

While in KY this past fall I was pleased to finally meet an Ammocrypta. Confusingly, this is an Eastern Sand Darter. I had originally been very confused, because in a tiny portion of Virginia, we have a population of the Western Sand Darter, which actually occurs farther east than the Eastern does.

 

 

 

A beautiful scene from last year's spawning season in the upper Roanoke River drainage. I went snorkeling and had the good fortune to stumble upon a chub mound full of stonerollers, rosyside dace, mountain redbelly dace, white shiners, crescent shiners, rosefin shiners, and a few fish probably just hanging around for a snack. In my laziness, I actually am still sitting on probably 150-200 photos from this very day (Exactly a year ago, on 5/25/14 actually) that I need to clean up in photoshop, as well as a good bit of video.

 

 

 

The stunning Candy Darter is always a crowd favorite, and with its red white and blue color scheme, it is appropriate for celebrating Memorial Day.

 

 

 

 

[Kanus]

The Wavy-Rayed Lampmussel (Lampsilis fasciola) is a freshwater mussel in the Unionidae family. The female in this photo is gravid, meaning that she has a full load of larvae, or glochidia. Freshwater mussels have an interesting life history, requiring a short parasitic period latched onto a fish in order to develop properly (this also allows them to disperse much longer distances). Many species have amazing adaptations to get their glochidia onto a fish. This species uses a lure, which it waves in the current in an attempt to get a fish to bite it. When a fish bites the "lure", the larvae are released and clamp their microscopic shells onto the gill filaments of the fish, where they stay and develop. Various color forms of this species occur, with some even having eyespots and very closely approximating a fish, despite the fact that these animals cannot see. Isn't evolution grand?

A video of this individual can also be seen here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rdWUquml5o&list=UUCiV8nvrdKS1i4P6Guru0JA

 

 

 

A particularly handsome fantail darter. Not colorful, but pretty in a subtle sorta way. I do kinda miss the cool striped form I caught at the KY convention, that I was convinced was kennicotti at the time since it was so different.

 

 

 

A baby hellbender was the only think I found during what started as a particularly crappy day of snorkeling. I saw literally zero fish at that spot and found this guy under a rock. Once I realized what I'd found, my mood brightened, since it was my first hellbender ever. Later I found out that this was a new site for them, and quickly became the most productive site for a researcher at Virginia Tech doing work with them.

 

 

I wish White Shiners (Luxilus albeolus) looked like this all the time. But alas, when not in breeding colors, their name is fitting since they are a slab-sided, white/silver fish.

 

 

 

 

I was very excited when I saw a pumpkinseed for the very first time while snorkeling. It was a tad shy, but luck was in my favor as I also happened to be in some of the clearest water in the region and the sun was shining. Taken from probably 4 feet away, I'm still rather in awe of how clear this turned out.

 

 

I know people don't often get to see mud sunfish, but they have a certain charm to them, so I figured you all might appreciate this.

 

 

Mountain Redbelly Dace jockey for position on the mound of a bluehead chub.

 

 

A male Tessellated darter photo retouched from my very first foray as an amateur underwater photographer back about 3 years ago. This shot of a breeding male provided the boost of confidence I needed for underwater photography to really become a passion.

[fishlvr]

Awesome shots man!

[Mysteryman]

Really great stuff!

[Isaac Szabo]

Amazing photos Derek! Those grumpy fish are crazy. I really like the look of that mayfly larva, and I love the chub mound and candy darter photos. Thanks for sharing!

[mattknepley]

Fantastic stuff, Derek!

[gerald]

Wow ... and more wow. 

[zooxanthellae]

Awesome shots Derek! Would you mind sharing what gear you use? 

[Casper]

Well done Derek.

I really enjoy your informative captions as well.

We should be getting in the water somewhere soon.

[Kanus]

Thanks everyone! Glad you're enjoying my stuff.

 

As far as gear goes, everything in the first post was taken with a Nikon AW120. In the second post the mussel was taken with a Nikon AW100, the hellbender and tessellated darter were taken with a Pentax WG-1, and the mountain redbelly dace was taken with a Nikon AW1 and was my first attempt at processing photos in RAW format.

[Josh Blaylock]

WOW, those are amazing.  Care if I use the Crescent shiner/upper Roanoke photo as the FB cover photo?

[Kanus]

Absolutely sir! Or if you want to browse the gallery on FB any of those are fair game.

[NotCousteau]

Beautiful photos!

[Kanus]

Time for some more!!!

 

The always handsome redline darter. Among the top as far as most awesome darters go. I'm sure littlen agrees!

 

 

The colors on candy darters cannot be beat though!

 

 

The three amigos look on as I snorkel to pursue spawning candies. Top to bottom: Bluehead Chub, Central Stoneroller, Torrent Sucker

 

 

I hope nobody is getting tired of looking at these. I don't believe I ever could...

 

 

A breeding male Torrent Sucker, captured in the South Fork Holston drainage in southwest Virginia. Native to the Atlantic slope, with its nearest source population being on eastern tributaries of the New River, how the heck did these make it into a small trout stream in the Tennessee drainage? We will probably never know...

 

 

Johnny Darters are spectacular in their own way as they blend in with the sand and silt in slow sections of the upper James drainage.

 

 

A New River drainage Snubnose Darter shows his excitement for the spring spawning season as his nose glows green.

 

 

With a spotty and localized population in the New River drainage, I had to make a special trip to snorkel with and photograph the always handsome rainbow darter for the first time. Expecting to have to work to find these guys, I was pleasantly surprised to be surrounded by them as soon as I put my mask in the water. So strange that adjacent tributaries seem to lack them...

[Mrfipp]

I've been watching these on Instagram, but they are all so awesome I find myself looking at them here repeatedly.

Seriously, these are exceptional photos.

[littlen]

I'll agree that your photos are awesome, Derek.  

But in the battle of Candy v. Redline, ............ it's like trying to compare Julia Roberts in her red dress from 'Pretty Woman' to George Clooney in a casual, chic suit.  One of them is always going to be a gorgeous woman, the other a handsome devil.  Both (fish) are easy on the eyes.

Were your Rainbows from VA/New? 

[Kanus]

You have a point about the darters, though I question your judgement and just have to wonder why someone would want a sharp-dressed Clooney tattooed on their ribcage. Oh well!


Yessir these rainbows were from the East River in Giles county. They must extend into the mainstem to some extent: one of our biologists found a mostly digested darter with patches of red and blue in a 14 inch muskie a few months back. We thought it was exceedingly strange that what we thought was quite possibly a candy darter was found in a muskie 8 miles upstream of the nearest known population, but it also had us excited about possibly doing additional surveys to find another possible population. Luckily though, Virginia Tech volunteered to use DNA barcoding to identify it for us, and it turned out to be a rainbow. The muskie was caught even further from a known population of rainbows, but was adjacent to a somewhat poorly sampled tributary where they are known to occur upstream.

Fish distributions in the New are often puzzling...

[Aquastudent]

The candy darter pics are stunning! Those are some wild colors. I also like the redline darter.

[littlen]

Touche, sir.  Touche.


I have a serious love/hate relationship with the New.  Some truly terrific species in it, like the Rainbows and Candy's you mention.  But how sparse they are can drive one mad.  And what's all this talk about Muskie eating darters?  I think they need to go....

[Kanus]

Well over 50% of the species in the New are nonnative and brown trout aren't stocked ontop of candy darters anymore, so it could be worse. Most of the cool endemics are up in the tributaries anyway.

But the New is definitely a bit of an ecosystem experiment.