Native Fish Enthusiasts Rejoice!
Spring is around the corner and once more you can get into the rivers to cavort with, observe, and perhaps even collect a few of our stunning North American local fishes for our aquariums.
Brilliant Red Tennessee Shiners (Notropis leuciodus) crowding your view of some Central Stonerollers (Campostoma anomalum) – Screen capture from “Hidden Rivers” by Freshwaters Illustrated
As if the melting snow and lengthening days weren’t enough, we’re delighted to share this preview of “Hidden Rivers”, a documentary put together by the folks at Freshwaters Illustrated. There are some jawdropping fish on display.
Alabama shiners (Cyprinella callistia) – Screen capture from “Hidden Rivers” preview by Freshwaters Illustrated.
As Anna George of the of Tennessee Aquarium Conservation Institute shares in the video, “Reds, and Blues, and Yellows and all of these colors, I thought, only occurred on coral reefs. And then you dip your head into southeastern rivers and discover that we have these amazing colors here in your backyards.”
Striped Shiner, Luxilus chrysocephalus – Screen capture from “Hidden Rivers” by Freshwaters Illustrated
We’re inclined to agree with that assessment after watching this footage. Check out the trailer for this new film series being launched by Freshwaters Illustrated.
Hidden Rivers – Preview from Freshwaters Illustrated on Vimeo.
For more information on this mission behind this film series, visit HiddenRivers.org
A special thanks to Todd Crail (University of Toledo / North American Native Fishes Association), and Nick Zarlinga (Cleveland Metroparks Zoo / North American Native Fishes Association), for helping us ID the stunning North American native fishes in our selected screenshots.
CAUTION
Before collecting fish anywhere, be sure to check local and state fishing regulations. A quick call to the nearest Fish & Wildlife office, or even a good bait shop, can help avoid blundering into collection and possession regulations that can lead to fines. Local members of NANFA (North American Native Fishes Association) can be a great source of support and wisdom for the aquarist venturing into natives for the first time.
Hey! I was unable to comment on the article I was trying to comment on (http://www.reef2rainforest.com/2013/06/01/unboxed-and-reviewed-deep-blue-professional-betta-aquariums) so I’ll say it here:
These aquariums seem really small. I’m sure the fish will survive, but it must be a bleak existence. Biologically, these are wild animals after all. They should have a lot (a LOT) more room to swim. Is there any way to make their life a bit more natural?
This is really all that I had to say. Anyway, I wish you good luck. o/
Mark, thanks for your comments. We’ve had to disable comments on old posts in order to drastically reduce the amount of spam comments we received.
You raised a long-running debate when it comes to Bettas; it inspired me to share my $0.02. Feel free to give it a look – http://www.reef2rainforest.com/2014/03/26/amazonas-videos-bettas-in-the-wild-what-they-tell-us-about-minimum-tank-sizes-for-bettas/