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Re: NFC: Re: Fw: sheep's head


	It was a bowfin, Amia calva or as Ray calls 'em - Hogans. 

On Mon, 14 May 2001, Larry wrote:

> A "sheep's head" looks basically like a very large convict.  Did the fish
> resemble a convict at all?  Cichlid or sunfish shape, dark colors, maybe
> vertical black stripes with silver backdrop.  I have only heard of sheep
> head in salt water...the Gulf is full of them.  They have teeth that look
> like human teeth (well...sheep teeth which is how they got the name) that I
> believe if for eating crustations and barnacles.  I've seen them school with
> Redfish by the hundreds...unfortunately they wouldn't bite on anything while
> schooling like that.  I'd be surprised if a fish that schools with Redfish
> would care for it's young (since Redfish will eat anything that fits in its
> mouth alive or dead).
> 
> The eye and whiskers don't make sense then in the case of a sheep head.
> Redfish however do have a false eye and possibly very short whiskers if I
> can remember right.  But they have a light colored body, reddish towards the
> top.  They live in salt and brackish water and get VERY large.  They're a
> very aggressive gamefish as well.  Aggressive gamefish don't typically care
> for their young do they?  I don't know.
> 
> Probably didn't help a bit...
> Larry
> 
> > I'm helping with amphibian research in Ward Marsh which is next to the
> > Poultney River which feeds into Lake Champlain in the state of Vermont.
> > Two days ago I was walking along the edge of the marsh after collecting
> > data on amphibians when I saw a large dark mass near the shore.  When I
> > got closer I saw that it was a large group of fry that where swimming in
> > a protective mass.  There might have been a thousand of them or at least
> > hundreds.  I then notice that there was a large fish that was with
> > them.  Mother?  Father?  This fish was over 2 feet long and had a blunt
> > head with short whiskers which she pointed ahead of her.  There was a
> > large false eye on her tail and the pectoral fins where a wonderful neon
> > powder bluish color.  I don't notice much if any dorsal fin.  The young
> > swam around and under her for protection.  The mother didn't wish to
> > swim into deeper water, I would guess since there was more danger of
> > perdition in that location.  Might you know what this fish is?  I was
> > told that a local name for it was Sheep's Head.
> >
> > David Cunningham
> 
> 

-- 
Sajjad Lateef   email: sajjad <at> acm.org 
Chicago, IL     web: http://www.lateef.org/sajjad/
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