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Re: Silversides
Robert,
I'm not a wordy fellow and most articles would need to be longer or have
pictures, but I'll think about it. Thanks for the offer.
Dave
----------
> From: robert a rice <robertrice at juno_com>
> To: nfc at actwin_com
> Subject: Re: Silversides
> Date: Wednesday, July 15, 1998 5:00 PM
>
> Dave,
>
> Thank you for the articles ! You have a nice style and it is a real
> pleasure to see your broad base of experience. Contact me if you'd like
> to do some of the fish publications ! I'd be happy to help you get a
> broader audience..............
>
>
>
>
>
> Robert Rice
>
> Save A Native Eat An Oscar <:)((((<
> Check Out the Native Fish Conservancy at
> email NFC at actwin_com or website http:\\nativefish.interspeed.net\
>
> On Wed, 15 Jul 1998 20:43:16 -0700 "The Halls" <dahall at lightspeed_net>
> writes:
> >Silversides
> >David L. Hall
> >813 Williams Ave.
> >Madera, CA 93637
> >dahall at lightspeed_net
> >
> >
> >My interest in silversides began when I saw a picture of the Brook
> >silversides (Labidesthes sicculus) in a booklet called An Introduction
> >to
> >Missouri Fishes by William Pflieger and Lawrence C. Belusa. I was
> >intrigued by the picture which showed a translucent fish with a
> >beaklike
> >snout. I had to have a closer look.
> >
> >Finding the silversides was easy as they were abundant in the area,
> >but
> >getting them home was anything but easy. Catching them with my seine
> >was
> >not difficult, but when I transferred them to my bucket they died
> >within
> >minutes. After several attempts I gave up, vowing to try again later.
> >
> >Many weeks later I was on a quest searching for sunfish when I caught
> >a
> >21/2 inch silverside. My first reaction was throw it back, but on a
> >whim I
> >tossed it into the styrofoam container that I had brought to transport
> >my
> >"catch of the day". Continuing to search for sunnies I forgot about
> >the
> >lone silverside. Later when I was about to put a Blackstripe topminnow
> >in
> >the styro I was shocked to see the siverside was still alive and well!
> > In
> >my excitement I shifted my priorities and looked for more silversides.
> > I
> >collected a couple more before calling it a day.
> >
> >I kept those silversides in a 15 gallon long aquarium with outside
> >filter.
> >I fed my silversides fine flake food with an occasional supplement of
> >frozen baby brine shrimp. They feed on plankton in nature and so
> >newly
> >hatched brine shrimp or daphnia would be appropriate. William
> >Pflieger's
> >Fishes of Missouri notes that they feed by sight.
> >
> >My first silversides survived for several months, but my second
> >attempt to
> >keep them resulted in keeping them alive for close to two years. I
> >found
> >that a larger swimming area, floating plants, and salt in the aquarium
> >seemed to have a positive effect on them.
> >
> >Although I never attempted to spawn them sources note that silversides
> >spawn like Medaka or Celebes rainbows with the female trailing a
> >filament
> >with eggs attached from her vent and depositing them on plants. Their
> >spawning behavior in the wild has been observed to occur when the
> >water
> >temperature reaches between 20 and 34 degrees(C).
> >
> >In California I've collected and kept the Mississippi silversides
> >(Menida
> >audens). They've survived in an aquarium for several months and then
> >relocated them to an outside pond with no filtration for close to a
> >year.
> >I lost very few of these silversides when I collected and they may be
> >more
> >hardy than the Brook silversides. Peter Moyle in his book Inland
> >Fishes of
> >California notes that they were used as bait fish.
> >
> >Several people have speculated as to why silversides are hard to
> >collect
> >and keep. Observations from several sources suggest keeping handling
> >to a
> >minimum and not removing them from the water is helpful, but from
> >personal
> >observation and experience I believe just taking extra care when
> >handling
> >them helps. In the aquarium plenty of surface area and swimming space
> >with
> >the addition of salt to the water is helpful. These fish seem fragile
> >but
> >are surprisingly hardy.
> >
> >---------------------------
> >References
> >
> >American Currents Janusry 1985
> >
> >Moyle, Peter B., Inland Fishes of California, University of
> >California
> >Press, 1976.
> >
> >Pflieger, William, The Fishes of Missouri, Missouri Department of
> >Conservation, 1975.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
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