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Southern Studfish & Barrens Topminnow

Started by Guest_farmertodd_* , Apr 23 2009 11:41 AM

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15 replies to this topic

#1 Guest_farmertodd_*

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Posted 23 April 2009 - 11:41 AM

Hey folks, just back from TN. Got some good pics of southern studfish, Fundulus stellifer, out of the Conasauga, and one of a barrens topminnow, F. julisia, from the TN Aquarium Research Institute. Stellifer is common as dirt, where it occurs, julisia is endangered in Tennessee, where it is an endemic species. It would be listed as endangered by USF&W, but it's pretty easy to maintain in tubs, so I think the listing has been avoided to avoid paper work to maintain the species.

F. stellifer, live in a 2.5 gal tank

F. stellifer, live in a 2.5 gal tank from above (usually how you see them

)

F. stellifer, live in a photo tank, gray background

F. stellifer, fixed in a photo tank, gray background

F. stellifer, fixed in a photo tank, black background

F. julisia, live in a photo tank, "gray" background - it looks black after I auto-leveled it.

I have to admit, I really like the black background on stellifer. So I guess I'm not an exclusive "gray" kind of guy lol.

Todd

Edited by farmertodd, 23 April 2009 - 11:42 AM.

#2 Guest_Mysteryman_*

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Posted 23 April 2009 - 12:43 PM

Nice.
I gotta get some of that stellifer action someday.

#3 Guest_fundulus_*

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Posted 23 April 2009 - 01:07 PM

My experience has been that the northern studfish, F. catenatus, is easier to keep in aquaria than the southern, F. stellifer. Has anyone else had that experience?

#4 Guest_daveneely_*

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Posted 23 April 2009 - 02:02 PM

additional edited photos on the NANFA Photo Gallery...

#5 Guest_blakemarkwell_*

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Posted 23 April 2009 - 02:52 PM

Those are great Todd! I love the F. stellifer on the black as well. Thanks for posting. Dave, I love those Cottus sp. shots, you really know how to display the sculpins full beauty.

Blake

#6 Guest_farmertodd_*

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Posted 23 April 2009 - 04:17 PM

Thanks guys

Has anyone else had that experience?

I've kept both successfully, I raised both from juveniles to adult coloration. However, both of the stellifer I kept ended up taking a ride on the carpet into the great beyond. Stellifer seemed to hang at the surface more, catenatus would be found more down in the vegetation. Stellifer are jumpy lil' bastids.

Todd

#7 Guest_Aphanius_*

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Posted 25 April 2009 - 02:30 AM

I also find that stellifer is almost impossible to keep in the aquaria. I have had it in a 500l and they still panic all the time. F julisia is much easier to maintain and breed. Also in smaller ponds outside. They are hardy here in Denmark and are wonderfull fish to watch.
Posted Image

Martin

Thanks guys

I've kept both successfully, I raised both from juveniles to adult coloration. However, both of the stellifer I kept ended up taking a ride on the carpet into the great beyond. Stellifer seemed to hang at the surface more, catenatus would be found more down in the vegetation. Stellifer are jumpy lil' bastids.

Todd

#8 Guest_ashtonmj_*

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Posted 25 April 2009 - 07:29 AM

Could you elaborate how a fish that is illegal to posses due to state protection and much of its current habitat being off limits and fenced is hardy in Denmark?

#9 Guest_Aphanius_*

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Posted 25 April 2009 - 08:20 AM

I understand your sentence and I must admit that I was actual curious what happen if i showed this on an american forum. Im sure you are not asking how it can be hardy but where I got them from. Anyway, the fish are from a german breeder who got it from the german killifish associations show where they were auctioned as captive breed fish. Should you need some for reintroduction, just ask.

Martin

#10 Guest_choupique_*

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Posted 25 April 2009 - 03:06 PM

I had some captive bred stellifer, which did pretty well in aquaria. Caetenatus I have tried over and over and they seem to not do well. Could be my water make up is not in favor of the caetenatus, and the stellifer being captive born had a leg up adapting?

#11 Guest_choupique_*

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Posted 25 April 2009 - 03:10 PM

I find it more interesting a fish so imperiled in its natural habitat is being captive bred and spread around Europe - in reference to julisia.

#12 Guest_fundulus_*

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Posted 25 April 2009 - 05:20 PM

I find it more interesting a fish so imperiled in its natural habitat is being captive bred and spread around Europe - in reference to julisia.

You're right. But as long as you keep it away from Gambusia in the same tank, and feed it well, it's a surprisingly fertile species. The joker in the original natural habitat has been the huge expansion in Gambusia numbers.

#13 Guest_ashtonmj_*

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Posted 25 April 2009 - 06:53 PM

I find it more interesting a fish so imperiled in its natural habitat is being captive bred and spread around Europe - in reference to julisia.

It's captively bred with great success here as part of its recovery efforts. That is not the issue. Springs drying up, having two dozen cattle standing in them, and being overrun with Gambusia is the problem. I'll dig up a picture of a seine haul I made in a relatively nice spring that was invaded several years ago and you will be disgusted at the number of Gambusia in the net...and before anyone jumps down my throat asking why I was making seine hauls in F. julisia habitat it was because I was assisting with research projects being conducted by grad students funded by TWRA and FWS.

#14 Guest_Aphanius_*

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Posted 26 April 2009 - 02:58 AM

Rare fish are not nessecery difficult to breed. Species of Crenichthys are widespread in the european hobby and are extreamly easy fish to breed. As with temperature tolerance they are as many Cyps from hotspring tolerating temps betwin 7 and 35C though they would never see so low temps in the wild. Also extinct goodeids thrive in captivity and have actual been given back to the mexican scientist that work with reintroductions.

It is habitat destructions everywhere that are causing species extinctions. And what is a species without its habitat?

Martin

#15 Guest_choupique_*

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Posted 26 April 2009 - 09:37 AM

This has been brought up before; Then it is not so much the current way of listing species that works, but rather protecting and invigorating habitats that should be the aim.

The fence written about earlier, that is a cattle station? I was under the impression when reading this a few years back that this was more like a security fence to keep people out of the area. Could have been my misunderstanding.

Gambusia control - probably impossible. Modifying the habitat so other fish can find areas and coexist with the plague of gambusia might be the answer? I am not going to pretend to know the ins and outs of julisia's habitat, but think that things done to improve trout streams for trout the compete against other fish might be able to be applied. Getting rid of channelized area, creating pools, runs, riffles by adding log jams and rock formations and let the current do its work.

#16 Guest_ashtonmj_*

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Posted 26 April 2009 - 09:51 AM

The fence written about earlier, that is a cattle station? I was under the impression when reading this a few years back that this was more like a security fence to keep people out of the area. Could have been my misunderstanding.

Gambusia control - probably impossible. Modifying the habitat so other fish can find areas and coexist with the plague of gambusia might be the answer? I am not going to pretend to know the ins and outs of julisia's habitat, but think that things done to improve trout streams for trout the compete against other fish might be able to be applied. Getting rid of channelized area, creating pools, runs, riffles by adding log jams and rock formations and let the current do its work.

The fence is for cattle in some places but also people. I wish some of the more recent work would be published because it is exactly about ways to modify the habitat to exclude gambusia, deter their invasion, and differential survival rates of young julisia when actually given an escape from gambusia. Adult julisia have been shown to hold their own against gambusia it is the juvenilles that stand no chance.