7 replies to this topic

[gerald]

I was scoping out potential sites to take the gang for the Raleigh Aquar Soc field trip on March 10 and found some remarkably colorful E. zonatum in a creek 25 miles south of Raleigh.  Males were nearly black with iridescent green bars when first caught, much like E. okatie from SC and GA.   By the time I got them to a photo tank, the green bars had faded back to the usual tan-gold color.  If we catch more of these colored-up during the field trip I'll try to get some shots in the net before they can fade.

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[mattknepley]

Nice! That one in the center of the first picture is a good lookin' fish. Would love to see photos of when they first come out of the water.

[sbtgrfan]

That's awesome. Don't think I've ever seen a colored up male zonatum. 

[zooxanthellae]

Wow Gerald, those are beautiful! 

[gerald]

The prominent stripe from snout to opercle that distinguishes zonatum from others was not apparent in the dark fresh-caught males.  Had I caught these somewhere between the Waccamaw and Savannah River basins (range of E. boehlkei and okatie) they would have fooled me.

[Chasmodes]

Wow Gerald, those are beautiful! 

 

I second that!

[Dustin]

Down near Charleston there are some that have very wide bluish green bands right now.  They look very similar to okatie.  They both have a ton of stippling right now but the patterns are a little different and the royal bluish okatie bands are slightly different from the bluish green to greenish yellow zonatum.  It is hard to beat either of these fish.  They are two of my favorites.

[harryknaub]

I'm already registered for Mar. 10. Looking forward.