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Number
1
The
Gardneri
Album
The
newest magic
in fish literature
from the duo
of Charles Nunziata
and Tony Terceira...click
on the image
to see more.
Killi-Data
2005
click
here or on LOGO
Dr
Jean H. Huber,
Ichtyologie, Museum
national d'Histoire
naturelle, Paris,
France
Number
2
The Killifish
SourceBook
Nunziata and Terceira
The next magic
in fish literature from the
duo of Charles Nunziata and
Tony Terceira...click on
the image to see more. DISK
2
Florida
Collecting Guide
The number
one guide
made by the people who know how to collect native tropical fish.
Click pic to
see Information
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Collecting
in Africa . . . South America
Well, Not Exactly, But
How About Florida?
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Article
by Charles Nunziata . . . Intro
by Mike Jacobs
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INTRO: I
am sure that if you have kept tropical fish for more
than a few months that your mind has sometimes wandered
to the exotic places that your fish were originally
were caught. You could close your eyes and see the
jungle, the lake, the stream and you could just picture
yourself being there and never coming home. You could
dream of yourself collecting from morning until night
and you wouldn't stop until every discus and angel
in the stream was in your possession and then you would
pick the top 8-10 and throw the rest back . . . or
your imagination sent you somewhere close to that?
Well, the Suncoast Killifish Society (SKS) does that
many, many times a year. We are in the wilds of Florida
5-6-7 times a years collecting the fishes that many
parts
of the world would just die to get into their tanks.
Who would want our fish? The tropical fish keepers
in Europe! What fish? The fishes of Florida! Why? Because
our fish are as exotic to them as the fishes of Africa
are to all of us. You know the old saying about " .
. . the other side of the fence." It's true .
. . our fish (Florida) are really in demand in Europe
and the SKS has developed far from what the original
intent was when the SKS was originally formed. WE HAVE
BECOME COLLECTORS OF WILD FISHES . . . in every sense
of the phrase!
Below is an article of one such collecting trip the
SKS took . . . the fish we collected . . . the sights
we saw . . . and the experience itself. Florida is a
land rich with a wonderful mix of water and sights and "wilds" that
would make the average tropical fish enthusiast very
jealous. All of this is available to us just a short
drive from any of our homes. Welcome to the world of
the SKS. Welcome to the world of collecting wild fish!
There is also a movie at the end of this article of
the trip discussed here for your viewing pleasure! Another
first in aquarium magazines.
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Collecting
Trip Report: The Richloam Fish Hatchery and Wildlife
Management Area, and the Green Swamp Wilderness
Preserve . . . the middle of Florida!!!
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Brian
Skidnore & Charles Nunziata and all
of us can get seriously dirty when someone says "Let's
Go Collecting." But the fun . . . ever seen
20 adult kids getting dirty?
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Mike Miltner, a biologist with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Service
and staff member at the Richloam Fish Hatchery hosted a collecting trip
to the Green Swamp Wilderness Preserve, 560,000 acres of interlocking
network of undeveloped land and waterways. Giving up a beautiful Saturday
that we are sure he could have put to better use, Mike spent the day
leading us to collecting sites that he had previously scouted, and ended
the day with an extensive and extremely informative tour of the Richloam
Fish Hatchery. Mike paved the way for this trip by getting the necessary
approvals from various authorities, allowing us to fish in areas not
available to the public. His dedication, interest and hospitality were
of the highest order, and the group of guys that was lucky enough to
attend was treated to a wonderful day of collecting and touring.
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Our first stop at the Borrow
Pit near the Richloam Hatchery. Jim Greenwald and Eli Mathews
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Harry Specht
and Doug Dame work the sein
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Collections were made at the Borrow Pond near the hatchery facility,
Gator Creek and the Withlacoochee River, both some miles from the hatchery.
The latter two sites were essentially covered with Pistia statiotes,
the water lettuce. Mike advised that these conditions were not normal
leading to speculation that the three year drought we have been experiencing
in Central Florida and the consequential reduced flow allowed this tenacious
vegetation to take hold of these sites. Look at the Gator Creek photos
on page 4 and try to find the open water. Actually, there were a few
open water areas at both these sites, but they were small and widely
spaced. As a result, the "quick net sweep" method met with
limited success. Nonetheless, a very nice variety of species was taken
which more than made up for the small quantities. The "Borrow Pond" located
near the hatchery was wide but not too deep, and free of heavy vegeta¬tion,
allowing easy dip netting and seining
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Bill
Shields checks a trap that Mike
Miltner set out for us the night
before.
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Our
host, Mike Kiltner
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The water was warm and the day sunny, not
too hot, with rather low humidity and clear
skies. A perfect day! The hatchery had a
separate building and parking area hat provided
a very nice resting and watering place; air-conditioned,
and with a chilled water fountain Very comfortable
and well appreciated by the group. Mike led
the way, opened the locked fences and brought
us to each site, returning after an hour
or so to lead us out. The area was free of
development with very little recent Human
impact. As such, we were treated to an environment
which is becoming more and more rare in Florida,
and experiencing that environ¬ment alone
was well worth the trip.
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The
plants choked Gator Creek preventing
effective collecting but we did
get some nice fish here.
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Brian
Skidmore begins to "dig in".
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After we completed the field work, we reconvened
at the hatchery where Mike conducted a tour
of the site. He explained the operation of
the Hatchery and the conditioning and breeding
techniques used to produce millions of game
fish each year. In addition, he explained that
the Hatchery handles special pro¬jects,
and we were fortunate enough to observe one
of the cur-rent ones, the housing of a group
of young Sturgeon, Acipenser oxyrhynchus. To
see these ancient animals up close was a per¬sonal
highpoint of the trip for me.
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Inside
the hatchery showing holding
tank facilities.
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A
tank of crayfish raised by the
hatchery to keep brood fish healthy.
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We then loaded up on a truck to visit the
breeding and grow out ponds on the Hatchery
property. These very large ponds were stocked
with many different species of game fish,
and par¬ticularly impressive was the
large pond of brood Bass, where Andrew Shields
got the chance to feed crayfish that were
bred and raised at the Hatchery as a food
source. To the chagrin of the killie-guys,
thousands of J. floridae which were reproducing
in a large pond were also being used as a
food source. We esti¬mated that each
single feeding session involved some 4,000
Jor¬danella. Mike had put out some traps,
so there were hundreds of the Flag Fish for
the members to take home
Mike made hatchery water available for a
final water change before we left for home.
A special recognition goes to John Herbeck
who came from Pompano Beach, 5+ hours away.
Now that is dedication. Mike offered us the
same hospitality next year, and hopefully,
the drought will be a memory by then, and
the sites will be easier to collect. The
preserve is a vast area that I'm sure offers
enumerable collecting opportunities, and
we will have that opportunity again 2001.
Site
1. Richloam Borrow Pond:
A large pond area with shallow outflows, one to three feet at the edges
with high grass, few bushes and trees. No significant floating vegetation.
Easy to collect with dip net or seine. Water temperature 72 degrees,
pH 8.3, conductivity 520 microsiemens.
Fish Collected: Etheostoma
fusifurme (Swamp Darter), Fundulus chrysotus,
Gambusia affinis, Heterandria formosa, Jordanella
floridae, Lepomis gulosus (Warmouth). Lepomis
sp., Lucania goodei, and Poecilia latipinna.
Plants Collected: Bacopa caroliniania, Bacopa monnieri, Ludwigia arcuata,
Ludwigia repens, Micranthemum glomera¬turn, and Najas guadalupensis.
Site
2: Gator Creek: Deep and
wide with many shallow tributar¬ies,
some of which were dry. The surface was totally
covered with primarily Water Lettuce, making
collecting difficult. Water temperature 71
degrees, pH 7.6, conductivity 480 microsiemens.
Fish Collected: Aphredoderus
sayanus (Pirate Perch), Etheo¬stoma fiusifurme
(Swamp Darter), Elassoma evergladei, Fun¬dulus
chrysotus, Gambusia affinis, Lepomis sp.,
and Poecilia latipinna.
Plants Collected: Fontinalis Spp., Ludwigia repens, Pistia strati¬otes,
Riccia fluitans, and Salvinia minima.
Site
3: Withlacoochee River:
Wide and deep, 1 to 2 feet at edges, some heavy bushes and trees at water
line. Totally covered with Water Lettuce except for isolated open water
areas were there was some flow. Difficult to collect. Water temperature
71 degrees, pH 7.6, conduc¬tivity 500 microsiemens.
Fish Collected: Elassoma
evergladei, Etheostoma fusifurme (Swamp Darter),
Fundulus chrysotus, Gambusia affinis, Heterandria
formosa, Lepomis gulosus (Warmouth)., Labidesthes
sicculus (Brook Silversides), and Poecilia
latipinna.
Plants Collected: Fontinalis Spp., Hygraphila, Ludwigia repens, Pistia
stratiotes and Riccia fluitans.
This is the hobby and trademark of the Suncoast Killifish Society. Enjoy
the movies right below!
Movie One . . .
Collecting
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Movie
One Is 102 MB In Size . . . 3+ minutes
download
on my cable |
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Movie
Two Is 150 MB In Size .
. . 4+ minutes
download
on my cable |
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