36 replies to this topic

[Casper]

CNF   Conasauga River   July 11, 2015

 

This was my first group of my 6th season with the Cherokee National Forest's

Snorkeling Program.  I arrived at 9:30am finding Bryce already present along with

several vehicles filled with folks from the Coosa River Basin Initiative, based out of

Rome, Ga.  Every year more and more folks show up to take advantage of the

beautiful Conasauga River's offerings.

 

 

 

We assembled down by the river's edge while lifeguard Mikella reviewed our safety

concerns.  A small group of 10 but i enjoy this size as it gives me the opportunity to

spend time with each individual and they all seemed enjoy the day with enthusiasm.

 

 

 

After a lunch break we put them back into the water for another hour as more and

more folks arrived filling the snorkel hole with about 100 splashers, waders and

masked people.  Most of the visitors stayed downstream allowing Bryce and i to

work with our smaller group in the shallow, clear riffles pointing out all the various

species and their behaviors.

 

 

 

Bryce hankerin' for a Paw Paw, just a few more weeks to go before they are ripe

and ready.  2015 looks to be a bumper year for this delicious native fruit.

 

 

 

After our group departed, Bryce and i returned to the river for some photo

opportunities.  To our surprise we saw a 6' alligator in the mass of splashing

children.  Thinking quick Bryce jumped in and grabbed the beast putting himself

between it and some of the smaller children.  I grabbed a sharp stick and quickly

dispatched the beast.  It was chaotic for quite awhile afterwards with all the crying

children and upset parents.

 

 

 

The real predator of the snorkel hole, the ever present Coosa Bass.  A voracious

vacumn.

 

 

 

Stonerollers always grazing, flashing mirrors in the sun.  That slippery algae is what

they feed on.

 

 

 

Hogsucker, photogenic, a bit wary they always have their eye on you.

 

 

 

A quiet Hoilday Darter posed on a bubbly algae patch.

 

 

 

In addition to the Alabama Shiners still sporting their spawning colors and

tubercules were several elegant Tricolors.

 

 

 

And the beautiful Blue Shiner in the shallow flowing pools.  Dr. Roston had told me

his favorite food to lure in shiners was cheese crackers.  I can assure you they do. 

Normally i can gather at my hands a dozen or so shiners by disturbing and playing

with the substrate.  2 crackers brought in a 100 swirling shiners and not a crumb

was left.

 

We ended the day a little early, chilled, batteries spent and thunder in the distance. 

I really appreciate Bryce making the drive and assisting on a fine day.  We have

several more events for the summer, some with special guests.  I have another

group tomorrow, Summer Campers from the Tennessee Aquarium.

 

[trygon]

Nice write up and photos Casper.  Yes, it was a good day on the river, but really aren't they all?

 

I found a nursery of sorts on the far bank that was inhabited by juvies of all sorts, Coosa Bass, various minnows and the Hogchoker, ~1.5", and Darter, ~1", below.  I'm guessing that the Darter may be a Bronze, if anyone can id it please let me know.

 

 

 

Peek-a-boo I found the prize, a Bronze Darter

 

 

Happy Holidays!

 

 

Did you hear that Mr. Bigears?

 

 

Why cryptic coloration is important.  As you can see this small, ~6", Hogsucker blends right in to the background.

[Matt DeLaVega]

Are there banded darters there? The two holiday darters photoed don't look like the same species.

[trygon]

I believe so, check E. brevirostrum.  There are no Bandeds in the Conasauga, it seems like everywhere else though.  The Conasauga is in the Mobile drainage making the fishes in it different from the rest of Tennessee.

[Matt DeLaVega]

Sorry Bryce, I may have edited while you were posting. Your holiday darter and Casper's look different. Casper's looks like E. zonale. At least in my world. Which is quite far from there.

[trygon]

They both look like male Holiday Darters to me. Maybe there is a size difference or maybe it's a dominance thing. There are Bandeds about thirty minutes away in the Hiwassee River; probably even closer than that.

[Matt DeLaVega]

Like I said, I am not from there, but the fish that Casper photoed sure looks like a banded to me.

[trygon]

This is a Banded Darter, Etheostoma zonale, from the Hiwassee River.  No red on the body, but a red band on the dorsal fin.  Note also the head shape.  What do yours look like?

 

[Matt DeLaVega]

Pretty much just like that when fully colored.  Much like Casper's fish the remainder of the year.

 

 But If they are not in that drainage, I must be wrong.

[littlen]

I also think that Casper's photo looks like a dulled Banded.

 

On the other hand, I yield to those who know what species are/are not supposed to be in what drainages.

 

I think we can all agree that it is indeed, a darter.

 

 

P.S.  I do like the close-up of the little golden-yellow darter, Bryce.

[Isaac Szabo]

Awesome photos guys!

[trygon]

Thanks Isaac.

[smbass]

Matt,

 

Although Casper's photo does look like a Banded Darter at first glance and these two are very similar species when not in color I think it is a Holiday Darter like it should be based on the location. If you look closely along the belly between the greenish bands there is some very faint orange/red coloration and a Banded Darter would not have that. I think the photo over all is a little yellow which also probably makes those marks in between the bars along the belly hard to see.

[Matt DeLaVega]

Yeah if I blow it up and look really hard, I might be seeing some red down there. Obviously the location eliminates banded as a  candidate. I don't know though for some reason the head shape even looks more like a banded than a ulocentra. Whereas Bryce's fish has a head shape very much like an emerald darter. I am sure I am wrong, and it must just be due to photo angles, and possibly size of the darters, but I had to ask. That would get pretty tricky if both were found there, and it was outside of spawning season. I can make out the red much more on Bryce's photo.

 

 Do the two overlap anywhere? If so can you distinguish the females?

[drawer0bli]

Awesome photos and even better fish!!!!

 

Damn, you guys there are blessed with fish of all kinds. There's more species in the Conasauga than all of NJ combined. Species number aside, I would absolutely love to see a primo Alabama male someday... Cyprinella are so beautiful.

 

I'm not an ichthyologist, but I agree with smbass about the darter ID.

[Casper]

 

Bandeds ain't in the Conasauga.  They will never overlap with Mobile drainage Holidays unless a bait bucket gets kicked over.  Odd i have never considered the similarity between the Holidays and Bandeds though now studying the blander individuals see the similarity.  Great photo of a Hiwassee Banded Bryce.  Often we spend our time chasing the high males to photograph however my Holiday photo was one of the more typical Hoildays encountered, could be female, juvenile or sub male. 

 

Bandeds always seem to have a much stronger vertical banding and seem to prefer green vegetation to linger in.  And those vibrant green vertical bars are way more intense than just about anything.  Zonale!  Here is one i was chasing in the Hiwassee a couple weeks ago.  They have pointer noses than the snubby Holidays.  They behave a lot differently as well.

 

[Matt DeLaVega]

That particular holiday that you photoed would have slipped through my hands at home as just another out of color banded. Sorry was not really questioning you guys on your home turf, but that fish looks like my bandeds when they are not colored up. Pretty neat, glad to know that they do not overlap, as that would make the ID awful tough on mere mortals.

[Casper]

CNF   Conasauga River   July 15, 2015

 

A big storm blew through the night before dumping an inch of rain in the Conasauga's immediate watershed.  My morning drive of 10 miles through the national forest was littered with leaves, branches and trees fallen into the road, at  times making passage tight.  Upon arrival Snorkel Boss Jim was already there and stated the visibility was only about 3'.  Our group of 12 Tennessee Aquarium Summer Campers soon arrived at 10:00 along with their 3 leaders so i spoke at extra lengths of how to make the most of these low visibility conditions.  That is to basically settle into a good spot, face downstream, keep your movements to a minumum, so as not to stir up the debris, and let the fish come to you.  And they did as we soon had Hogsuckers, various Darters and Alabamas at our facemasks, the Shiners nipping at our fingertips.

 

 

We stayed in the shallow riffle areas and returned to them after lunch and with the sun shining overhead the visibility increased from about 2' to about 4' by the end of our session.  Quite beautiful in the right place with the sun streaming in.  With the group and Mikella leaving at 2:00 i returned to the water determined to work on some closeup photos.  By my departure at 4:00 the clarity had reached about 6' which speaks well for the protected watershed's forested buffer.

 

 

The riffle cleaned cobble is so pretty in the Conasauga.

 

 

A big Cray with his left pincer clipped was crawling the substrate hunting the fresh storm debris.

 

 

A Blue Shiner with its fins errect.  I had settled upstream of this gnarrly rock and attracted fish in close using different tricks.

 

 

A Hogsucker working the cobbled basin i had freshly cleared.

 

 

A bit of the better rock graffiti scrawled.  I had shown a couple of the campers how you could draw with some of the softer stones.  I had forgotten not to do that as later i spent a good bit of my time scubbing off their scribblings.  But this one is kinda interesting.  With the reduced visibility it was easy for them to be distracted with other options and play.  Sometimes the boys like to body surface the riffles.  Ah, to be young again. 

 

 

 

A final shot of our group as they waded out to head home.  Note who is always the last one out. 

[Matt DeLaVega]

Blue shiner. Pretty handsome fish. I had never seen a photo before. I like it.

[Isaac Szabo]

Nice blue shiner shot!