Gambusia from SW Georgia (Grady County)
#1 Guest_fish for brains_*
Posted 14 June 2007 - 11:25 AM
My other question is about whether or not to stock Gams at all. I've heard that they are extremely aggressive little fish that will make it difficult or impossible to establish many other small indigenous fish. My inspiration for this pond has been influenced by this cool article - http://www.nanfa.org...acgeorgia.shtml , and I would like to have the largest variety of small fish I can have. Will the Gams dominate the shoreline to the exclusion of many other fish?
Any comments are appreciated.
#2 Guest_fishlvr_*
Posted 14 June 2007 - 11:35 AM
#3 Guest_killier_*
Posted 14 June 2007 - 11:55 AM
but if you want a livebearer get least killifish or drawf livebearer smaller and a lot less agressive
#4 Guest_fish for brains_*
Posted 14 June 2007 - 12:04 PM
My original idea was to stock them first as a forage base for the eventual stocking of Green Sunfish, which will be the apex predator in this pond. This would probably be the fastest way to establish a forage base at this time of year, but it might not be worth it.
I'm aware that even if I don't stock Gams they might show naturally as in the other pond.
#5 Guest_fishlvr_*
Posted 14 June 2007 - 12:11 PM
#6 Guest_fundulus_*
Posted 14 June 2007 - 01:01 PM
#7 Guest_daveneely_*
Posted 14 June 2007 - 01:08 PM
If your goal is to manage for native fishes, and your pond is in Grady Co., GA, why do you want green sunfish? They are not native to either of the major drainages in the county (don't have records from the Ochlockonee, and I hope you wouldn't try to introduce them from the adjacent Appalachicola, where they are introduced and have become fairly common). On the other hand, warmouth are native and reach a slightly larger maximum adult size. Both species have a very strong tendency to stunt, so one aspect of managing a pond for quality greens or warmouth would be removing a large number of intermediate sized fish and juveniles on a regular basis after they become established to drive up the adult size.
Cheers,
Dave
#8 Guest_fishlvr_*
Posted 14 June 2007 - 01:49 PM
#9 Guest_fish for brains_*
Posted 14 June 2007 - 01:51 PM
daveneely: Thanks, the reason I was going with GSF was primarily because one of the goals of this pond is fishing. Part of the population control plan involves a deep fryer.
The horrible truth is that I was planning on Greenies because I am familiar with them and like them, and I thought they were local. If Warmouths are more consistant with my goal of an indigenous pond I will certainly consider switching. I didn't know that they got bigger than GSF. I'll be looking into WM, but in the mean time if anyone would like to go into a comparison of the two species I would like it.
#10 Guest_fish for brains_*
#11 Guest_daveneely_*
Posted 14 June 2007 - 03:08 PM
Just for the heck of it, what's this?
Looks like you already have warmouth there!
You might also consider a mixed warmouth/flier community; they often co-occur naturally, and eat different stuff (fliers eat more insects), so you could maintain good populations of both species without too much competition...
They taste good, too.
cheers,
Dave
#12 Guest_fish for brains_*
Posted 14 June 2007 - 03:20 PM
Since you brought up Warmouth I'm doing comparisons between them and GSF. Can you offer any major differences?
I guess I should move this to a more appropriate thread since the subject has changed.
#13 Guest_dsmith73_*
Posted 14 June 2007 - 03:29 PM
daveneely, no offense but how sure are of this ID?
This is for certain a warmouth.
The most important difference between the two is that warmouth is native to your area and green is introduced.
#14 Guest_fish for brains_*
Posted 14 June 2007 - 03:39 PM
Anyway here's the thread you might like: http://www.pondboss....=5;t=000637;p=1
#15 Guest_teleost_*
Posted 14 June 2007 - 04:06 PM
#16 Guest_fish for brains_*
Posted 14 June 2007 - 04:15 PM
#17 Guest_fundulus_*
Posted 14 June 2007 - 04:22 PM
#18 Guest_fish for brains_*
Posted 14 June 2007 - 04:37 PM
#19 Guest_teleost_*
Posted 14 June 2007 - 05:00 PM
The last forum link almost touched off a gang war, for no really good reason as it turns out. I'll keep my head down this time...
Fundulus,
I'm not pointing a finger at you. In fact many that participated in the last inter-forum event provided a positive impact until a few remarks of a personal nature really made us look silly. No biggie, just the way things go when a gang war happens. Rarely a good result in a "pile on" situation.
#20 Guest_daveneely_*
Posted 14 June 2007 - 05:18 PM
daveneely, no offense but how sure are of this ID? Since you brought up Warmouth I'm doing comparisons between them and GSF. Can you offer any major differences?
No offense taken, but I'm quite sure on this ID.
While there's some variation across the range (and especially across different size classes) of green sunfish, in the southeastern US they'll nearly always have a large black spot at the insertion of both the dorsal and anal fins, and usually a yellowish or white margin on all median fins. Rather than the dark-striped cheek of a warmouth (often with three dark brown lines radiating posteriorly from the eye), greens will have bluish wavy streaks under the eye and onto the cheek. If you're still not sure, crank the mouth open and look at the tongue; warmouth have a patch of teeth on the anterior part of the tongue, that greens lack. You could also count the number of scales along the lateral line (36-44 in warmouth, 43-52 in greens), etc., etc...
Hope this helps.
Dave
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