Blake and I met on the Iroquois River in hopes of finding Notropis buchanani Ghost shiners for photos early on Saturday. We pulled the seine quite a few times and were pretty sure we managed to find them easily. Instead we found a gazillion young Pimephales vigilax Bullhead minnow yet not a single adult. I'm pretty sure we would not have been confused had we found any adults but it was fun imagining we found Ghost Shiners for a while. Anybody have any tips for finding them

We also found quite a few Pimephales notatus Bluntnose Minnow, Cyprinella spiloptera Spotfin Shiner, Lepomis humilis Orangespotted Sunfish along with many very large crayfish that I really should have taken photos of.
I've never sampled the Iroquois before and was a little surprised to see it low yet still quite turbid. With mud banks and bottom all around, it seemed like a really big prarie stream. Either way I will return for photos of the abundant P. vigilax and try and hunt down N. buchanani in the not too distant future.

We then drove to a nearby tiny stream to see several saucers near the bridge crossing with plenty of male Lepomis megalotis Longear Sunfish in their best colors. We showed great restraint in skipping them in search of other fishes downstream. The stream was small (about 6'-10' wide) and sluggish. The water was very cool and clear with abundant vegetation, sand/silt substrate that was surprisingly firm. We could have snorkeled this stream for sure. With much of the water at two feet deep and a maximum of about three feet, we managed to stay cool in the direct sun. It wasn't longe before we found several Notropis chalybaeus Ironcolor Shiners which were one of our targets that day. Males were in good color but lacked the tubercles I've seen in the past. It seems we were a bit early for them. Quite a few tiny (less than 1") Erimyzon sucetta Lake Chubsucker were netted and found to be particularly fragile at that size. No adult E. sucetta were found despite intense sampling. Lythrurus umbratilis Redfin Shiner and Esox americanus vermiculatus Grass Pickerel were not uncommon, a few Notropis stramineus Sand Shiners, Ambloplites rupestris Rock Bass, Fundulus dispar Starhead Topminnow were found along with a lone Catostomus commersoni White Sucker. Many of the Lepomis cyanellus Green Sunfish had ragged fins but at least were free of "black spot" so I've finally added an adult male to the photo collection. We continued downstream until we came across a half pipe spillway combination typically encountered in the the area and decided to see what we might find in the swift water below. A few particularly golden colored Etheostoma zonale Banded Darters were captured in the shallows and robust Cyprinella spiloptera were found in the sump of the spillway. All of the C. spiloptera males had peculiar orange fins and that makes the second location and sampling event this year where orange finned C. spiloptera were found. I've not been doing this as long as some folks but I don't recall seeing this coloration in the past. Anybody else have this experience? It was hard to head back upstream since we were having such a good time at this location but the thought of looking at the L. megalotis near the bridge was inspiration enough. Before climbing the spillway we did scrape up a few Luxilus chrysocephalus Striped Shiner from the pool behind the steel half pipe.

After photos we hunted around for access and ideal water without a whole lot of luck. We did stop at an artificial pond which I presume was a borrow pit for levees and saw a magnificent group of Lythrurus umbratilis engaged in courtship above a conspicuous slab of submerged cement. If we had not failed in finding Notropis texanus Weed Shiner, I'll bet we would have enjoyed the activity for a bit longer. Off to another stream system we went, and found what looked like perfect water but once we entered we found the water quite hot and the bottom so soft it was unpleasant to manuver. We did manage to find much of the same and added a single Aphredoderus sayanus Pirate Perch to the list. I was quite dismayed to see introduced Gambusia of monstrous sizes in these fragile streams. I have never encountered Gambusia in any Kankakee drainage until that day.

Blake and I were doggone tired and decide to call it quits for the day. I had a great time and Blake is a heck of a lot of fun to hang out with even though he poked me a bit about my age

All below photos came from the second location listed above and I hope Blake will post some of his. BTW Blake...I made a major mistake in my settings on the camera. I feel so stupid....I'll tell you about it next time we meet.

C. spiloptera (male)



N. chalybaeus (male)



N. stramineus


E. vermiculatus



L. megalotis
Note the wild differences in appearance from this tiny stream.


Males above, female below


L. cyanellus


F. dispar


Male above, female below
http://gallery.nanfa...female 2000.jpg

Oooo those orangefin C. spiloptera are quite intriguing.

Haha, nice report Uland. I enjoyed reading it and recalling the Notropis quest. Funny you mention the camera mistake, I left the ISO at 800 the whole time even having ample sunlight for a much better ISO setting. Oh well, I managed to edit a few pictures and here they are.

When I did some work out in the Kankakee drainage a couple years ago I too was struck by how yellow/ orange the fins of the males spotfins out there were. Here in Ohio the male spotfins have very white fins and the steel color shiners in southern Ohio are the ones with the yellow or orange to their fins. I actually just took photos of both of these the other day from the Scioto River here in Ohio. Here is the male Steel color Shiner showing off his red nose and large rounded dorsal nicely...


And a male spotfin from the same location with very white fins...

Haha, nice report Uland. I enjoyed reading it and recalling the Notropis quest. Funny you mention the camera mistake, I left the ISO at 800 the whole time even though having ample sunlight for a much better ISO setting. Oh well, I managed to get a few images edited and have many more to edit plus images from the previous trips. Well, here they are, I put megalotis and peltastes because I believe we got both species (however, I am interested in hearing some insight/input from you sunfish enthusiast). I know the one is for sure peltastes (Northern Longear Sunfish).

Just got back from a surprisingly fun wedding so forgive me in my altered state of mind.

Cyprinella spiloptera (Spotfin Shiner)


Lepomis megalotis (Central Longear Sunfish)


Lepomis peltastes (Northern Longear Sunfish)

Brian,

It's interesting you found "orangefin" C. spiloptera near me. I'm used to bright yellow without a hint of orange.
Like this:


Great looking C.whipplei Brian ....I really need to go SE and get some photos this season while I still have the chance.

Great looking pics Blake and I have to go to St. Louis next week so we might be able to get a net while while I'm passing through?

When I did some work out in the Kankakee drainage a couple years ago I too was struck by how yellow/ orange the fins of the males spotfins out there were. Here in Ohio the male spotfins have very white fins and the steel color shiners in southern Ohio are the ones with the yellow or orange to their fins. I actually just took photos of both of these the other day from the Scioto River here in Ohio. Here is the male Steel color Shiner showing off his red nose and large rounded dorsal nicely...

Is the rounded dorsal a local trait or throughout ohio?

The rounded dorsal is a trait used to separate steel colors from spotfins where the two co-occur. Problem is it is only useful on those large breeding males. As far as I know that is not just something in Ohio but true for steel color shiners in general.

Uland, as you can see from my spotfin photo ours don't even have yellow, just white on those lower fins. It is interesting how they vary from one location to another.

The rounded dorsal is a trait used to separate steel colors from spotfins where the two co-occur. Problem is it is only useful on those large breeding males. As far as I know that is not just something in Ohio but true for steel color shiners in general.

Uland, as you can see from my spotfin photo ours don't even have yellow, just white on those lower fins. It is interesting how they vary from one location to another.

Brian, I sure do see that and I'm a bit taken aback by it. It would be one thing if we had varying degrees of yellow, white or clear but this is unmistakable. I also notice that your male lacks the blue coloration running from the nape to the pectoral fin. Is this common or does that male in the photo need a couple of days to get in full color?

This kind of stuff makes me want to get in my car and stop in every drainage to take photos while fish are in color!

That is an excellent photo of an ironcolor. It shows all of the characteristics that I look for in ID'ing that fish. You really need to start cataloguing these shots in a searchable format for a web wide ID guide....

Golly, thanks Dustin. Up here we have to look pretty hard for Ironcolors and not much to confuse them with when in good color. You have N. cummingsae Dusky Shiner that must force you to have a careful eye when distinguishing the two.
Every time I get some idea in my head to make the photos more usable, I realize how hard it is to get anything done with a complete or nearly complete collection. Changing photo style from year to year has not helped either. I think I've finally settled on this method of photography.

VERY nice sharp images of your fish.
those two longears are amazing!!!
i really like the one with the rounder shaped front end
and black tipped fins.

Edited by CATfishTONY, 02 August 2009 - 11:26 AM.

? why are most of your fish shots heads left?
is this the norm like a clocks time is all ways 2:10 pm?

Tony,

That male appeared to be in top condition. Honestly I don't think I've ever caught a longear so old in such great shape.
As far as head left...When I first started taking photos I had no clue what I was doing and played around with how to present the fish. I'm not much for blindly following standards if something can be done a better way (not that I was even aware of standard at that time). Back then I felt all fish facing left looked best and have done it ever since. Head left does appear to be standardized yet I'm unable to tell you who made this a standard.

I'm with Uland. I have no clue who made the fish head to left a standard, however, when I have a fish positioned any other way it screams "backwards" to me.

Blake

I had a busy weekend and on Sunday I had errands to run but thought I might have the time to pop in a creek and take some photos. I'm piggybacking on this thread since this is the same location but photos just a few days ago.
I forgot my melon warmer at home and I just about froze in the water on Sunday. My camera fogged up pretty quickly and my fingers stopped working well so I didn't stay long.




I chased a group of young Erimyzon sucetta around for a while. ....



Lone Notropis chalybaeus. ....



More Notropis chalybaeus ....





Etheostoma nigrum



A couple of the white sucker startled me and the huge carp almost made me leap out of the water. For such a tiny creek, there sure was a lot going on under the waters surface.

Holy crap, that is awesome! Are you sure you didn't take these further south, just tryin' us out to see if we're this gullible?

Great stuff, I gotta get in over there with you sometime!

Gave 'er a little bump in zee photo programme. See what you think:



Todd

Edited by farmertodd, 23 September 2009 - 10:27 PM.

I bet that water in the longear melting pot was COLD.

Great photos Uland! I gotta respect any photos that come out that well in Illinois and especially a tributary of the Iroquois (arguably the most silt-ridden river in Illinois). That sure is a beautiful little ditch and the clarity of it amazes me, such a cool little microcosm of fish that call that place home.

Blake

Hey Todd, I swear these were local photos
We actually have a few locations like this that flow pretty clear much of the year but you'll have many leeches to contend with. It's a shame my camera case fogged up. I packed it in the morning when the humidity was high and it appears I should have waited for the air to dry out a bit. You live and you learn.

Lance, as you know, Prior to Sunday we've been both very dry and nights up here have dipped into the 40's. Between the water deep in the soil providing this stream with water and night temps, it was quite a shock considering the air temps were about 80 degrees.

Blake, I would love to spend more time at this location. I tried like heck to photo longears in hopes a few males might still protect a nest but I couldn't find any. I'll have to make a point of snorkeling here next summer and maybe a again later this season after I find my scuba hood.