Re: NANFA-- catenatus pic

Roselawn Museum (roselawn_at_mindspring.com)
Mon, 01 Oct 2001 11:00:29 -0400

Thanks, guys, for the input. Other than the dreaded gambusia, F. stellifer
is one of the most prevalent fish in my area. I have caught so many of them
that when I do go to an area that has F. catenatus, the latter seems to
bear a striking difference to me. The lone specimen we caught the other day
was both small and female, so I'll await positive ID. However, when I
scouted the same stream two weeks earlier I also caught one that day, and
was convinced it was F. catenatus. I WAS surprised, as I was vaguely
familiar with the range for that fish. While I have all the respect in the
world for the experts that recorded these ranges, anomalies do pop up here
and there.

For instance, when we visited Paint Rock (AL) earlier this year, we
discoverd a johnny darter in a stream that was apparently way out of its
range. Also, I have found several types of sunfish in place in GA where
(according to the books) they are not supposed to be. Once again, the need
for a "Fishes of Georgia" is huge. Whoever ends up writing it will be my
hero instantly! In the meantime, my curiosity is sufficiently piqued to
warrant another visit to Sallicoa to collect more of these renegades and
find out exactly what they are. That way, if I turn out to be mistaken, I
can eat one of the non-marinated specimens for my earlier brash claim. (-:

Nice pics!

Steven A. Ellis
Kennesaw, GA
Court Jester to the King of Swish

At 03:36 PM 9/30/01 -0700, you wrote:
>I have had both catenatus and stellifer in my tanks
>this summer and I agree that the females are
>particularly difficult to separate, but the males in
>color are easy. both these fish can jump
>spectacularly and its great fun to watch a catenatus
>skip like a rock across the water when it feels
>trapped. I have caught catenatus in Kentucky,
>Tennessee, Virginia, Alabama, Arkansas, Missouri and
>Indiana. Stellifer in Tennessee (Conasauga
>watershed), Georgia and Alabama as far south as Monroe
>county. So it would seem, catenatus is primarily a
>ohio, tennessee, Mississippi drainage fish while
>stellifer having a much smaller range is found in the
>gulf drainage primarily. What with the proliferation
>of exotics, I wouldnt be surprised if there are somee
>populations that have made it over sand mountain,
>since their ranges abutt each other there. It might
>be a good idea to send the fish you caught to Dr.
>Jamie Thomerson, who has studied Catenatus extensively
>and compared them to stellifer.
>
>--- Bruce Stallsmith <fundulus_at_hotmail.com> wrote:
>> Thanks for the picture, Klaus. There isn't a sharp
>> physical difference
>> between catenatus and stellifer; I think that
>> stellifer can get bigger, is
>> more robust and has a range defined on the northwest
>> by the barrier of Sand
>> Mountain in northeastern Alabama. The sharpest
>> difference I have noticed
>> between the two is that stellifers are _very_ prone
>> to jumping, while I've
>> never had a catenatus jump. I don't have the
>> literature in front of me to
>> point out diffs in scale count, etc., but in purely
>> cladistic terms I would
>> rate "tendency to jump" as a major character state.
>>
>> --Bruce Stallsmith
>> Huntsville, AL, US of A
>>
>> >With all the confusion over catenatus and stellifer
>> I
>> >asked Jay to post a picture of a catenatus I took
>> >...The quality is not up to my standards but its
>> >adequate to see what this fish looks like.
>> Hopefully
>> >that Georgia fish isnt a bifax lol.
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >Here they are:
>> >http://www.nanfa.org/misc/fcatenatus_redriver.jpg
>> >(reduced size)
>> >
>> >http://www.nanfa.org/misc/catenatus_redriver.jpg
>> (full
>> >size)
>> >
>> >
>> >Thany you Jay for posting the pics.
>> >
>> >Klaus
>>
>>
>>
>>
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>>
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/----------------------------------------------------------------------------- /"Unless stated otherwise, comments made on this list do not necessarily / reflect the beliefs or goals of the North American Native Fishes / Association" / This is the discussion list of the North American Native Fishes Association / nanfa_at_aquaria.net. To subscribe, unsubscribe, or get help, send the word / subscribe, unsubscribe, or help in the body (not subject) of an email to / nanfa-request_at_aquaria.net. For a digest version, send the command to / nanfa-digest-request_at_aquaria.net instead. / For more information about NANFA, visit our web page, http://www.nanfa.org