Tag: Freshwater fishes

Appalachian stream fish diversity: The more the merrier!

by Andrew Dolloff, SRS Project Leader & Fishery Research Biologist  • 
The relationship between diversity and productivity in ecosystems has fascinated scientists for decades but is not well understood in freshwater fish communities. USDA Forest Service scientist Andrew Dolloff co-authored a study that found a positive relationship between fish production and fish biodiversity. Fish production is an expansive metric. It represents the number of individuals, their…  More 

Freshwater Fishes of North America, Volume 2

by Kim Crider, SRS Science Communications  • 
The highly anticipated second volume of Freshwater Fishes of North America was just published by Johns Hopkins University Press. This volume was edited by USDA Forest Service fisheries research scientist Mel Warren and four other editors. Warren also contributed to seven of the book’s 35 chapters. “We are indebted to a large community of ichthyologists,…  More 

Darter Conservation

by Sarah Farmer, SRS Science Communications  • 
Increasingly, recovery plans for imperiled fish species include raising them in captivity and releasing them in the wild. Crystal Ruble of Conservation Fisheries, Inc, with SRS researchers Ken Sterling and Melvin Warren published a protocol for captive propagation of the Yazoo Darter (Etheostoma raneyi). The researchers also summarize its early life-history. Compared to other darter…  More 

Snorkel Education Program

by Sarah Farmer, SRS Science Communications  • 
A watery world lies next to ours, and it’s inhabited by fish, mussels, and aquatic plants and insects. Snorkeling is a way to visit this realm. “Snorkeling is how managers and researchers have done fish surveys for decades,” says Craig Roghair, a USDA Forest Service fisheries biologist. From these surveys, a snorkel education program emerged.…  More 

How I Joined the Wood-in-the-Water Choir

by Andy Dolloff, research fishery biologist  • 
Not everyone knows from an early age what they want to do when they grow up. I did. Raised in a small coastal Maine town that was home base for marine and estuarine research and with an affinity for the outdoors, I knew I was destined to pursue a career in marine biology. Right out…  More 

Fish Hosts for Freshwater Mussels

by Sarah Farmer, SRS Science Communications  • 
For a few brief weeks of a mussel’s life, it is a true parasite, taking from its host and giving nothing in return. “Some mussels live more than forty years,” says USDA Forest Service scientist Wendell Haag. Only the larvae, or glochidia, are parasitic. “The interesting thing about this host relationship is that different mussel…  More 

Lampreys, Paddlefishes, and Mooneyes, to Name a Few

by Zoё Hoyle, SRS Science Delivery Group  • 
Johns Hopkins University Press recently published the first volume of a long-awaited reference work on North American freshwater fishes edited by U.S. Forest Service fisheries research scientist Mel Warren and Southern Illinois University professor Brooks Burr. Freshwater Fishes of North America, Volume 1 provides comprehensive details on 10 North American fish families: Lampreys, Whiptail Stingrays,…  More