Illinois native fish collecting...final report

[swamp-rat]

Howdy folks!
I'm back in the homeland and I brought my gear and guidebooks to catch me a few specimens. In the next few days I'll take you with me to a coldwater spring/sandstone bluff habitat to target Orangethroat Darters (and see what else we can find including madtoms), as well as to the northernmost cypress swamp in the world to find pygmy sunfish, central mudminnows, pirate perch, topminnows...and more! I'll also be collecting aquatic plants including native fissidens and willow moss, potomogetons, ludwegias....
If there's something you'd like me to try to find, let me know. Possible easy catches include darters (rainbow, slough, fantail, mud, bluntnose, stripetail, river, johnny, and logperch), bowfin, sunfish (bluegill, redear, pumpkinseed, longear, green, orangespotted, warmouth, flier, and crappie), stonerollers, shiners, chubs, minnows, dace, bullheads, sticklebacks, sculpin. Not so easy: sport fish. I haz no pole.
Oh, and ghost shrimp and bryozoans and sponges.

 

[Mike16T]

Howdy folks!
I'm back in the homeland and I brought my gear and guidebooks to catch me a few specimens. In the next few days I'll take you with me to a coldwater spring/sandstone bluff habitat to target Orangethroat Darters (and see what else we can find including madtoms), as well as to the northernmost cypress swamp in the world to find pygmy sunfish, central mudminnows, pirate perch, topminnows...and more! I'll also be collecting aquatic plants including native fissidens and willow moss, potomogetons, ludwegias....
If there's something you'd like me to try to find, let me know. Possible easy catches include darters (rainbow, slough, fantail, mud, bluntnose, stripetail, river, johnny, and logperch), bowfin, sunfish (bluegill, redear, pumpkinseed, longear, green, orangespotted, warmouth, flier, and crappie), stonerollers, shiners, chubs, minnows, dace, bullheads, sticklebacks, sculpin. Not so easy: sport fish. I haz no pole.
Oh, and ghost shrimp and bryosomes.

Would love to have some fissidens and willow moss.... =)

 

[Seattle_Aquarist]

Hey Kat,

Stay out of those swamps!

 

[L190]

i would love whatever native plants you find, rainbow darters and shiners if you can spare some. please let me know

 

[Loren]

Where in IL are you? I used to live in Dixon.

 

[clifford]

Looking forward to getting to see your photos...especially pretty darters and pygmy sunfish. Very cool. I'd also be interested in buying some zooplancton/shrimp/filter feeder samples if you're thinking of shipping things back...

For those who haven't seen it, Kat did a great talk in Feb 2014 you can watch on the GSAS website that covered a number of the things the mentioned in her post.

http://www.gsas.org/talks.php?ID=81

 

[swamp-rat]

Back today. Need a day or two to recover, but things to come. I was in Karnak/the homestead and visited Bellsmith Springs/Burden Falls and the Cache River.

 

[swamp-rat]

http://irshprncsk.blogspot.com/
It's all on there.

 

[Loren]

Thank you so much for this wonderful and insightful trip report. For me the "tropical fish" hobby always meant buying something from a tropical fish store. But you have shown that with a little elbow grease and inclination a very nice aquarium could to set up just by some netting skills and luck.

 

[swamp-rat]

Thanks!

 

[clifford]

Those Orangethroat Darters are beautiful. Very cool finds.

 

[swamp-rat]

I will try to have some Persicaria and willow moss at future GSAS auctions.