Lab #12

Date: 4/20/16

Location: Lumber River Park "The Wire"

Lab Activity: Collecting fish with nets in the Lumber River

Habitat: Freshwater River

Temperature: 78 F

Wind: Not Recorded

Humidity: 100% (It's a river)

Yellow Perch (Perca flavescens) 

    The Yellow Perch is able to reach lengths of up to 15 inches and can be recognized by the thick vertical stripe pattern that goes across their body in addition yellowish color.

    Yellow Perch can be found in all sorts of freshwater habitats such as rivers, lakes and ponds. 

    This species starts out eating zooplankton and algae, as they grow older their diet shifts to other fish, insects and just about any creature that will fit in its mouth.

Ducky Shiner (Notropis cummingsae)

    The Dusky Shiner is a member of the family Cyprinidae, the carp family, they are easily recognized by their relative short length along with the dark colored stripe which runs horizontally down the length of its body.

    The Dusky prefers to live in slow moving backwaters with plenty of detritus and vegetation. 

    When I tried looking up information on this species, I struggled to find much of anything; according to one source that I managed to find not much is known about this fish.

Largemouth Bass (Micropterus salmoides)

    You can find largemouth bass nearly anywhere in the eastern half of the United States and you can recognize them by their horizontal stripe, their spiny dorsal fin and of course their relatively large mouths. 

    The Largemouth also has large eyes and this is because they are visual predators and are often one of the top predator in their habitat. When they are young they eat primarily zooplankton but as they age their diet shifts to larger invertebrates and other species of fish.

Mosquitofish (Gambusia affinis)

    Commonly mistaken for minnows the Mosquitofish is a member of the family Poeciliidae, the livebearers. This means that the Mosquitofish gives birth to live young rather than laying eggs. 

    You can find them as far north as Indiana and stretching south through the Mississippi River and east in the coastal plain.

They are important for controlling the populations of many insects which have an aquatic larval stage such as mosquitos, but they will also feed on zooplankton and small insects.

Bluegill (Lepomis macrochirus)

    Named for the blue marking on its gill the Bluegill is a member of the family Centrarchidae thus making it a sunfish. You can find these guys in freshwater systems from Quebec to Mexico.

    They typically eat small invertebrates such as snails and tiny crustaceans. However they wouldn't pass up a small fish such as a minnow if the opportunity were to arise.

    

Chain Pickerel (Esox niger)

    The Chain Pickerel can be found in many of the same locations as the Red Fin Pickerel mentioned in another post entry. However the Chain Pickerel is typically in larger bodies of water than the Red Fin as they are larger in body size being able to reach lengths of up to three feet.

    You will know that you have a pike by its long and relatively slender body as well as its duck bill like snout. All pikes use this snout to prey on smaller fish.

Red Fin Pickerel (Esox americanus)

    Clearly named for the red coloration of their fins, the Red Fin Pickerel looks very similar to the Chain Pickerel although is a bit a smaller. One sure way to tell the difference if you are ever confused is to look at linear eye marking. A Red Fin has  a diagonal marking and the Chain has a vertical marking.

    The Red Fin can reach lengths of about 12 inches and is sometimes the larger predator in its habitat, preying almost exclusively on smaller fish. The Red Fin is however the smallest of all the pike species.  

    You can find these guys in small freshwater sheds such as a pond or a small stream. But you can find them in larger rivers and lakes, but this usually means that they have predators of their own.