New Favorite Native

[Colby]

Caught this dude along with four small others, and some Mosquitofish at Galla creek in Pottsville, AR


I could sit and watch them ambush Mosquitofish all day long.

[sumpnfishy]

Be careful about finding a way to distinguish the sides of the tank for them. They have a really bad habit of ramming the glass when going after prey and end up getting infections of the end of the mouth. Cool fish though!

[etheonut]

In fact they run into the glass walls without their being food in the tank. They have a tendency to be easily startled. Also, make sure the tank is closed tightly and he has plenty of cover.

Kevin

[Colby]

I need an updated photo.
This guy has gotten huge.

[Renegade545]

What species is it?

Its really cool looking.

[etheonut]

Common name is grass pickerel. I don't the scientific off the top of my head.

Kevin

[Renegade545]

Common name is grass pickerel. I don't the scientific off the top of my head.

Kevin

Thanks.

[Colby]

It is no longer grass pickerel. It has been changed to Redfin pickerel (Esox americanus)

[sumpnfishy]

They are the same species, but different subspecies. However every reference I have seen limits redfins (americanus americanus) to the Atlantic slope and never west of the Mississippi.

[Colby]

I was informed by my Ichthyology teacher that it is a Redfin pickerel, but regardless of its name it's an awesome fish.

[Herpchat]

Well as I have said so many times;

Animals do not read range maps.

I am also constantly finding organisms way outside their normal range.

I have so many stories to tell about that.

[sumpnfishy]

Well, I would agree with that but..
1. There are a few who don't even think that they should be separate at all (State of Texas lists vermiculatus as a synonym of americanus)
2. The differences are pretty much just in coloration and much harder to even see in juvenile fish.
3. Most important is location. Is it possible there are redfin's introduced? Probably. BUT this is the natural territory for grass pickerel and any introductions would be bred out rather quickly. Take for example Fundulus heteroclitus vs. F. grandis. There are almost no differences so if you are in South Carolina and you catch it, unless you have proof otherwise, you caught heteroclitus. If you are on the gulf coast, it's probably grandis.

Perhaps the ichthyology professor doesn't believe they are separate subspecies? If that is the case then he would be correct in the naming because vermiculatus would be a junior synonym and americanus would be given priority.
Michael

[Herpchat]

Well you don't even want to get started there because that opens a whole can of worms. Technically any species in a different waterway can be afforded new species status. That happens so many times when most of us would say they are the same fish.

I am not a pickerel specialist so I will not argue it but I have spent several years running an ichthyology lab so I do understand native taxonomy.

So in these cases I am inclined to agree with you. So the questions are as follows;

How far out of range is it?

How close are the two species?

[sumpnfishy]

As far as out of range goes, redfins are only known from waterways on the Atlantic slope, so nowhere even in the Mississippi watershed, let alone on the west side of it.
As far as differences go, they are only different subspecies. One has more of a convex snout, the other more concave. There is also "usually" a difference in the width on the light bands. Lastly is the color of the fins. This one however is a tough one because supposedly there are intergrades with pink fins in the western part of the redfin range.
Michael

[Herpchat]

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARG;

They throw everything off, don't they.

Oklahoma is home to an intergrade of a black rat snake that is so beautiful it isn't even funny, but outside of this range they are just ugly snakes.

[etheonut]

I happen to think that the non-integrade black ratsnake is a lovely snake. I do agree with you though that the integrade is also very pretty. There is a guy in Joplin that I talk to once a year or so who is attempting to get a breeding population of integrades going. He hasn't been terribly lucky yet.

Kevin

[Herpchat]

This intergrade is bright orange with the black overlay making for a strikenly beautiful snake.