Hey there, I'm currently dusting off my old 29 gallon for setup as a biotope based on some part of the pond/brook at my apartment complex (haven't decided which part yet). It's a decent sized pond, maybe a little smaller than a football field, with a shallow brook running into it. That creek feeds into a shallow shaded cove approximately 20 ft in diameter and maybe 2-3 ft deep at the center before emptying out into the pond.

Would anyone have an idea as to what species I could hope to find in each of these (the brook, the cove, and the pond)? I haven't been able to find much information about native fish in my area, or where to look for them. I was hoping for a fairly peaceful community, but I'm completely open to new ideas, seeing as I don't know what is available to me.

I don't know what you'll get since I've never collected down there, but if you're interested in a collecting trip, I can take the train down to Attleboro and we could collect together. I know most if not all of the species in the state by sight.

I'm from Middleboro which isn't too far.

For a tank that size a couple banded sunfish would do just fine.

I've always like keeping really small crayfish and watch them quickly sprout.

http://www.fish.stat...99/sunnonee.gif

Most times when I'm collecting I'm not really seeing the fish when I swoop down with the dip net. Just dragging it and scooping up the weeds. Dump it on the shore and sift through.

If you have trouble finding the sunnies I could probably get a few for you if you'd like.

Hey there neighbor, I'm from MA as well. We don't exactly have the best selection of smaller aquarium suitable fish. One option is the tadpole madtom, which is known to hide in beer cans and bottles. It never reahces 4". I have also caught a smaller species of schooling killifish (the name escapes me) in a small stream running into a salt marsh.

By the way, hi diburning! It's nice to see a BAS member here, I'm planning on posting a link on the forum.

Hey there neighbor, I'm from MA as well. We don't exactly have the best selection of smaller aquarium suitable fish. One option is the tadpole madtom, which is known to hide in beer cans and bottles. It never reahces 4". I have also caught a smaller species of schooling killifish (the name escapes me) in a small stream running into a salt marsh.

By the way, hi diburning! It's nice to see a BAS member here, I'm planning on posting a link on the forum.

Welcome fellow Bay Stater. It's true we are not blessed with the diversity of say, the Mississippi drainage, but we have several very suitable species for collecting.

The schooling killifish, most likely Fundulus heteroclitus, the mummichug, is an excellent example. There are 3 species of stickleback and 3 or 4 more killifish found in the same general area [brackish to salty].
We also have a beautiful schooling killifish that is entirely freshwater ( Fundulus diaphanus, the banded killifish).
For sunfish, besides the ubiquitous introduced bluegill, we have red breast and pumpkinseed sunnies. Both get large and are aggressive but are also some of the most beautiful sunnies out there.
Smaller and more peaceful, but short on the neon colors, the banded sunfish is a prefect captive. They also seem to be in demand from forum members who live outside their range which opens all kinds of trading possibilities.
Several minnows, shiners and dace are also available depending on where you are and what habitat you sample.
I heartily recommend you get The Inland Fishes of Massachusetts by Hartel et al available through Ma Audubon.

BTW, the tadpole madtom has an extremely small range in Ma. Basically one river. Hartel et al speculate they are an introduced species in the state but suggest the possibility they are an isolated relict population. Just so happens the river in question is down the street from my office and I plan on trying to collect some tadpole madtoms this season.
Maybe a forum fieldtrip is in order.

Well, I just came inside from catching two banded killifish from a stream. Beautiful fish, try for some. They seem to migrate pretty early, I'd look within the next few months or your chances are low. I once caught twelve 2-3+" killies in a 1 liter trap, they pack themsleves in there!

And mikez, I'm TOTALLY up for a forum fieldtrip!

Edited by bobberly1, 22 February 2009 - 12:59 PM.

I've been trying to organize a forum field trip for a while, but up until last year, there were only three people (that I wsd aware of) on the forums from MA! (a guy from SE MA, Rick Rego, and myself)

I have a few favorite collecting spots.

Belle Isle Marsh for Fundulus heteroclitus and other fresh-brackish water fish (the marsh usually does not fall below 80% strength seawater though as the only source of freshwater is a storm drain from the street and brackish groundwater.)

Houghton's Pond in the Blue Hills. Has a great varierty of wildlife. I've seen bluegills, pumpkinseed, E. obesus (banded sunfish) large gamefish such as trout, bass, as well as a large quantity of hornwort and turtles! However, I have seen gouramis there (yes, I said gouramis) They don't seem to be breeding in there and I only saw them twice (in the same year) which suggests that they are not overwintering. (the pond rarely freezes over because there is a lot of surface turbulence)

The Charles River. The river stretches from Boston, MA almost to Central Mass. The section near my house has carp, catfish, trout, etc. All the goodies. I have collected quite a few species here. I've collected spottail shiners, and golden shiners (probably introduced) with a dipnet. With rod and reel, I've caught white perch, white bass, striped bass, hybrids (wipers), trout, and very very nice bluegills.

Up at the Watertown Dam portion of the river, I've caught Gammarus (scuds), crayfish, and leeches (!). There is an abundance of turtles, and theres a walking trail/path with "platforms" along the way where there is good fishing. There is a public boat dock/launch east of the dam (downstream) that fish like to hide under which is also a very good collecting spot.

Also near my house is Chandler's Pond. It is a natural pond, but the inlet and outlet are artificial as the are has been filled in. The inlet comes from the Newton-Wellesley golf course. The water trickles in so the fish don't travel in and out of the golf course. The water coming in is very clean water, no no nitrates, nitries, or ammonia, pH of 6.9. The outlet goes through a wide grate (so that branches and leaves don't get in) and fall into a pipe which leads to the charles river. There is enough water in the pipe for fish to travel back and forth (with difficulty, but it's not impossible) The water leaving the pond isn't clean like the other side though.

The pond was dredged back in 2001 (pond drained, all fish died, pond was made deeper, then refilled). Before the dredging, it was a thriving pond with plentiful sunfish and bass. After the dredging, there were no fish in there for a while, but the geese, swans, and heron (there was a resident blue heron) probably caried fish eggs in their feathers and reseeded the pond. The year after I caught the youngsters (under 1 inch) there, I saw spawning adults. There are still no bass in the pond, but local anglers have been catching catfish in there. The catfish probably swam up the pipe from the charles river.

Jamaica pond is also a good collecting spot, but it is ridden with aquarium releases like goldfish and koi. The pond is stocked with trout and is good fishing. There are also minnows in there (never caught any to id them) The pond has a ton of leeches and milfoil. There is also a native Egeria species in there (anacharis/Elodea) that only grows on one side of the pond and is slowly being choked out by the milfoil.

If a forum collecting trip is planned, count me in! Also, if you know any good spots, please share! Rick Rego did a talk last year at Boston Aquarium Society (BAS) about collecting natives. he said that E. obesus can be found in cranberry bogs (if anyone is intersted)

There are also 5 kili species in MA. 2 are found all over the place, one is only found offshore, one is found in western, MA, and one is in an isolated population in SE Mass. (again, if anyone is interested)

Be very careful collecting at Jamaica Pond, the police will tell you to get out regardless of any permits you have. But it does have a good population of banded killifish in large schools along the southern shore (we worked fast early one morning, as part of a research project). At Houghton Pond you can also find swamp darters, look in areas with roots snags and leaves.

The isolated killifish in SE Mass Rick referred to is probably the spotfin killifish, Fundulus luciae. You can find them in tidal swamps along the RI border, and they're more common in RI southeast of Providence in specific high marsh habitats. If you scoop mud you might find spotfins in it if you pick through carefully.

need to bump this. i wanna get involved and do some collecting. I am from Grafton Mass. South of worcester. Did some netting today.

Edited by bumpylemon, 23 April 2009 - 03:07 PM.

come on mass members share some of your spots!!!

Hey Eric I didn't know you had found banded sunfishes in Houghton's. I'd also like to see what we can find at Pokapoag Pond (just a mile or two away from Houghton's and alot less impacted, as its in a less accessable part of the Blue Hills reservation

Ponkapoag Pond is one of the better swamp darter sites south of Boston. Pushing your net up and around tree roots will produce a surprising number. And remember, the blueberries on the Great Blue Hill are ripe by July 4!

I haven't tried mass (except for one trip for mummies which was a coincidental side trip from a deep sea fishing trip) but live in NH and have tried here with some luck.

I love hearing from fellow new englanders, the fish in this region fascinate me/ And the impossible happened, this board got me interested in darters when i came here thinking of centrarchids.

Ponkapoag Pond is one of the better swamp darter sites south of Boston. Pushing your net up and around tree roots will produce a surprising number. And remember, the blueberries on the Great Blue Hill are ripe by July 4!

My concern with collecting darters in MA comes from page 7 of the MA "fish and game law abstracts" :
1) the part that says under prohibited - "Transporting live fish (except bait for personal use) without a permit."
and
2) the part that says "only the following fishes can be used as bait: " - none of which are darters.

http://www.mass.gov/...h_abstracts.pdf

I collected some years ago down in Easton, but I didn't know then that I wasn't allowed to collect non-bait.

Has anybody here managed to obtain the permit required in MA to transport/keep non-bait ? I've been told that its hard to get, but I haven't tried....

I'd also love to hear if anybody has determined the rules for marine and brackish fishes other than gamefish - I've caught many killies or topminnows, along with hoardes of cunner (or choggies) Tautogolabrus adspersus, and the occasional pipefish or puffer (not to mention the various tiny gamefish -seabass, flatfishes, tautog etc) over the years, and I have yet to see a definative answer from the state regarding possesion of native marine non-game fishes other than for bait.

I'll admit I don't know, since when I was living & working in MA I was able to get a Scientific Collection Permit because I was affiliated with UMassBoston. As to the marine fishes, who's to say you're not using them for bait? Everything you mentioned except for pipefish I've seen used for bait, especially cunner and killies.

Here is something that might interest the massachussetts crew. I found a web page listing all the species of fish found on campus property at mount holyoke college in south hadley mass. They seem to have everything from darters (tesselates), to fallfish, to pumpkinseeds and crappie. The page says the list covers stonybrook, upper lake, and lower lake.

http://www.mtholyoke...ts/MHC Fish.pdf

Well, I do have a permit to sell baitfish, but the list of fish that qualifies as bait is new. However, the MA fishing abstracts has a chart with minimum fish lengths to be taken. At the bottom, it says "All other species" with no length or daily creel limit. So, technically, they are legal.

Here is something that might interest the massachussetts crew. I found a web page listing all the species of fish found on campus property at mount holyoke college in south hadley mass. They seem to have everything from darters (tesselates), to fallfish, to pumpkinseeds and crappie. The page says the list covers stonybrook, upper lake, and lower lake.

http://www.mtholyoke...ts/MHC Fish.pdf

I'm impressed, as far as they used illustrations they largely used work by Denton from a hundred years ago. I thought I was the only Denton fan, guess not. With the industrial history of the Hadley, MA, area it's amazing that anything is left in a local stream.

Don't quote me, seems to me I remember reading somewhere that one or more introduced species got into the river via that campus. Even mudpuppies maybe? Anyone else hear that or did I dream it?