Guest writer: Andrew Taylor Editor: Patrick Cooney I. The Species Question In a recent article, The Fisheries Blog asked the question: How many black bass (genus Micropterus) species are there? As it turned out, the article demonstrated that the answer is quite complicated. That previous post highlighted the nine species that the majority of black…
Category: Guest Expert
Fused Jaws and Male Pregnancy: The fascinating world of horses and dragons of the sea
Guest Author: Paul Anderson, PhD, Research Scientist, Mystic Aquarium Artist: Hannah Dean Editor: Patrick Cooney It is an honor to be invited to share my passion for a very unique group of fish here with you on The Fisheries Blog! In ancient Greek, syn = together, gnathos = jaws, and formes = of similar form….
Fish of the People: Summit Lake Lahontan Cutthroat Trout
by Guest Author, Erin Loury Amid snow-capped peaks in a remote stretch of sagebrush-covered Nevada desert sits Summit Lake, a watery refuge for the stunning and threatened Lahontan Cutthroat Trout. Thought to be the largest growing inland trout in North America, Lahontan Cutthroat can reach 50 inches and 40 pounds, though stories from mining boom…
Black Bass: How many species are there?
Guest Author: Tim Bonvechio; Editor: Patrick Cooney Black bass are the most popular freshwater sportfish in the USA. Their popularity as a sportfish has expanded their distribution from North America to around the world through human introductions. While Largemouth Bass and Smallmouth Bass are arguably the most widely known and dispersed black bass species, there is…
A student’s guide to networking at professional conferences
Your fisheries professor has probably been looking forward to the Annual AFS meeting with same enthusiasm of a host waiting for party guests… but as a student at your first meeting, you probably feel a child standing in line for their first roller coaster ride. For students who have not had practice in attending meetings, professional conferences can be intimidating, indeed!…
The 7 Wonderful Gar of the World
“As useless and destructive in our productive waters as wolves and foxes formerly were in our pastures and poultry yards” ~Forbes & Richardson, 1920 “Overall, they look less like a fish than a medieval dart” ~Lawrence Payne, 2016 “They’re like an alligator with fins instead of legs” ~Solomon David, describing a gar to just about…
Building a Biological Station in Hurricane Hermine: Cedar Key
I type this tonight from Cedar Key, Florida during 60-mph winds and pouring rain from Hurricane Hermine. The University of Florida (UF) has construction underway on the new UF/IFAS Nature Coast Biological Station. This Station is part of UF’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS), and it will seek to improve the conservation and…
Fish Ninjas: Alaskan scientists swoop in to capture fish
In Alaska, salmon are king. As an organism and a resource, they are the pinnacle of cultural, financial, and ecological value. Scientists are going ninja to enable salmon to continue reigning as king over these waters for generations to come.
How to land a technician job in fisheries and wildlife
Spring: a wonderful time of year when a young biologist’s thoughts turn to field work and all the great experiences that come with it. But to earn paid access to all those rivers and mountains, you have to go through the time-honored process of dusting off your résumé, writing cover letters and personal statements, and…
Three a-LURE-ing aquatic adaptations!
Hey anglers, what’s your favorite fishing lure? Does it mimic a minnow? How about a crayfish or salamander? As sport fishing has become more popular, fishing lures have evolved to appear more and more realistic. But they still can’t match the natural lures produced my millions of years of evolution. This week, we’ve teamed up…
Solution for Rare Alligator Snapping Turtles Found?
Guest Author: Craig Springer, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service The alligator snapping turtle is part of Southeastern USA natural heritage. They grow big. They are impressive to look at, and aren’t as common as they once were. As crickets sing sunshine to sleep, it’s a wake-up call for alligator snapping turtles. They make a living by…
Hostage Fish: The Bundys weren’t the first to invade Malheur National Wildlife Refuge (Op-Ed)
The following is an Op-Ed by a fisheries scientist who resides in Burns, Oregon (and recently married a cattle rancher). This article is the author’s own opinion and is not affiliated with an official position of the Burns Paiute Tribe, the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, nor the members of The Fisheries Blog. The author has…
The Trout You’ve Never Heard Of (and Almost Never Did)
By Craig Springer, Guest Blogger The trout stole its color from a southern New Mexico summer sunset. Gila trout sport a painter’s pallet of pink and olive, rose, yellow, copper—and a few tones in between. Beneath the black pepper flakes that fleck its side lies a lexis—a language carried forward from another time. It’s an…
Q-n-A: CO2 Barriers to Fish Movement
A few weeks ago we covered the topic of using CO2 as a barrier to fish movement. For a refresher, you can read about it here, but the basic idea is that some river locks may be infused with CO2, creating a plume of CO2 water that is released when the lock is open and…
Why didn’t the fish cross under the road?
Think about how you arrived to work or school today, yesterday, or last week. Did you go by car, bike, or train? Did your journey include traveling over a river, wetland, stream, or estuary? If you answered yes to either of these questions, it is very likely that you crossed over a possible barrier to fish…
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