Of the many monthly seining trips the Society has run, almost every one has
turned up one or more new species. So
far we have identified about 50 species. In
Tampa Bay and Charlotte Harbor, much larger bodies of water to the north and
south of us, respectively, scientists estimate there are 200 species in each.
We will never reach those numbers because of the limitations of our
sampling method and the locations we visit.
We use a 20 foot seine over shallow grass flats
Thus fast swimmers and denizens of deeper water evade our net.
Not all
the fish we have caught have been saved for photography. Sometimes this is arbitrary (several are rarities here) and
sometimes it is simply compliance with the law.
If you
plan to photograph fish, do it as soon after capture as possible.
Their colors are evanescent and fade fast.
If you preserve the specimen (we use 50% isopropanol) the colors will be
completely gone within a few days. Some fish exhibit a sheen created by
diffracting sunlight. This is especially difficult to capture on film because it
depends on the position of the fish
relative to the sun. From above,
the male sheepshead minnow can
flash a streak of diffracted light off its back that is completely lost when the
fish is photographed from the side.
We have also included photos of a few species caught on the Carefree Learner trip. These were taken by an otter trawl in 4-5 feet of water laden with drifting algae.
For
more about fish, a guide to their identification and their relationships one to
another, we suggest the Peterson guide “A Field Guide to Atlantic Coast
Fishes, North America” by C.R.
Robins and G.C.Ray. For photos and
paintings of many of the south
Atlantic sport fishes go
www.safmc.net.
03/06/06 11:56