Georgia - Oconee River Drainage
#21 Guest_farmertodd_*
Posted 21 March 2010 - 10:57 AM
That would be the most etowanum-looking nigricans I've ever seen, if that's what you're implying by box-headed trout Michael (I love that term, I'm going to steal it! ) I'm also following Gerald's line of thinking, but I can't give you a good answer for the very reasons he mentions. If you held me at gun point, I'd be down the Moxostoma route.
Todd
#22 Guest_UncleWillie_*
Posted 21 March 2010 - 11:05 AM
Gerald, you're right. That is most likely Scartomyzon - this one is the brassy jumprock. It is so strange that these guys get fairly large, but I have encountered them in the tiniest of streams (including my backyard stream).
#23 Guest_Casper Cox_*
Posted 21 March 2010 - 12:09 PM
Michael that is quite the story and love the pics. Note the translucence of the tourquise blue in the heads and lips. Radiant. You have spurred us all for the spring waters.
Good job to you and kkkKieth.
#24
Posted 21 March 2010 - 03:48 PM
Peterson's doesn't have Brassy Jumprock and my Fishes of the Middle Savannah River Basin only has one picture of what looks to be an adult, so I don't know what juvies would look like.
My HUC #3070101 Upper Oconee River listing includes:
Scatomyzon sp 1 (Brassy Jumprock)
S. rupiscartes (Striped Jumprock)
H. nigricans (Northern Hogsucker)
M. robustum (Robust Redhorse)
M. collapsum (V-Lip Redhorse)
As potential suspects... we thought hogsucker in the net based on color... and on a lack of familiarity with Scatomyzon...
I have a lot more pictures of this individual (nothing that shows lips, cause he was so small), so if you want a specific trait, let me know and we can try. The other piece of data that I can give is that the stream itself was high in organics, and algae in the water, so not as nice a stream as we were in earlier.
So let me know what y'all decide!
#25 Guest_UncleWillie_*
Posted 22 March 2010 - 08:08 AM
#26 Guest_farmertodd_*
Posted 22 March 2010 - 08:35 AM
I'm going to try and make something like your tank this week. Hopefully they have a somewhat thinner board so I can clip a glass plate in place behind the fish, because I think that's how this will work the best.
I forgot Ed called them that. I gotta start writing the "Ed-isms" down in my field notes lol.
Todd
#27
Posted 22 March 2010 - 10:16 AM
No, the first stream was about a mile south of my house and is I think the headwaters of McNutt Creek... the unidentified fish came from just north of Statham in what I think is the beginning of Brea Creek.
Farmer,
The MSRB book is great, so you got a good one even if it was not what you intended. But I have Fritz's book and I am still confused. Mainly becasue I look too much at coloration... So help me out, what are we going to look at to get the best diagnosis... I have a ton of pics... some head shots and more body stuff... what should I be looking at? It seems hard to tell from such a juveile fish... I should ahve just kept him and fed him... but I don't need a two foot long fish!
#28 Guest_gerald_*
Posted 22 March 2010 - 10:26 AM
Edited by gerald, 22 March 2010 - 10:32 AM.
#29 Guest_farmertodd_*
Posted 22 March 2010 - 12:00 PM
On fishes like this, at this age, your best bet is to do exactly what you/Gerald did. Get a ton of pictures, blow them up on your computer or tv and start counting. You'll see way more in megapixels than you saw while there. I always find crap I didn't notice when I get home, esp with the film and macro shots of flowers. It's kinda like 2 trips for the price of one!
Todd
#30
Posted 22 March 2010 - 01:22 PM
#33 Guest_UncleWillie_*
Posted 23 March 2010 - 07:25 PM
I gotcha. Just wondering. I have encountered a few of these odd suckers in a small creek behind my folks' house (which drains into the Middle Oconee only 1/2 mile away). I then started trying to hone my sucker ID skills especially since I start my field sampling (for robust redhorse) in the Ocmulgee in the next week or two. I'll try to take pics for the forum of any of the suckers we encounter (hopefully robust, v-lip, spotteds suckers, and brassy and striped jumprock) for comparisons.Uncle,
No, the first stream was about a mile south of my house and is I think the headwaters of McNutt Creek... the unidentified fish came from just north of Statham in what I think is the beginning of Brea Creek.
I still can't get over that turquoise darter-stunning. I need to see one in that condition for myself!
#35
Posted 23 March 2010 - 09:46 PM
Those are some great pictures of an awesome fish, Michael. I like the blue lines on the top and bottom of the caudal fin.
High praise considering the excellent photos you hsve shown us all recently... thanks... and you show your artist's eye... I had not noticed that on the fish I had seen before, but noticed it when I got this guy in the photo tank this year... and now I see that it is a distinctive trait on all the fired up males. It is an interesting detail, not exactly subtle considering the bright color, but interesting that it appears on the bottom snd the top since it is the only turquoise on the top side of the fish.
#36 Guest_mzokan_*
Posted 25 April 2010 - 01:54 PM
By the way, I am also in the Athens area and would love to pull a seine sometime, usually grad school gets in the way though
Here's a small local boxhead for comparison from Sandy Creek
High praise considering the excellent photos you hsve shown us all recently... thanks... and you show your artist's eye... I had not noticed that on the fish I had seen before, but noticed it when I got this guy in the photo tank this year... and now I see that it is a distinctive trait on all the fired up males. It is an interesting detail, not exactly subtle considering the bright color, but interesting that it appears on the bottom snd the top since it is the only turquoise on the top side of the fish.
#37 Guest_UncleWillie_*
Posted 26 April 2010 - 12:18 PM
Edited by UncleWillie, 26 April 2010 - 12:19 PM.
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