Of Swamps and Tidal Pools

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It happens to everybody. Noah and I went out yesterday. We searched for hours in a variety of likely places, hunting for new fish species. Basically the whole day was spent traipsing across Eastern CT and RI, looking for banded sunfish, swamp darters, and rock gunnels. The first two specie remained entirely elusive except for a few maybe glimpses. And Noah saw one rock gunnel. But other than that, the whole outing was a n abject failure. We may have narrowed down our search area for gunnels, and we've both pretty much accepted that we're going to need to go in the exact opposite direction to find good numbers of banded sunfish. But It was really frustrating.

Fundulus diaphanus, banded killifish

Clemmys guttata, spotted turtle

Blackwater swamp. perfect for banded sunfish and swamp darters, we thought. But we found none.

Don't get me wrong. It wasn't a bad day. We were exploring swamps and tide pools, two of my favorite habitats on the planet to fish. So there was plenty of cool wildlife, plant life, and geology to keep me entertained. But I really had high hopes for catching the three main species we were targeting this day and that just didn't happen. 

Tide pool habitats fascinate me especially. They are harsh places to live, and it takes a tough animal to make to work. Rock gunnels are air breathing, they can live in the wet spaces between rocks in the inter-tidal zone. Lumpfish, though much less abundant in the inter-tidal zone on the North American coastline than in Europe, hide within the weeds and often leave their egg masses in places where they are exposed at low tide. These fish fascinate me, and I hope to catch as many tide pool species as I can this year.

Tautogolabrus adspersus, bergall

Local lifers are becoming harder and harder to come by. But Noah and I aren't giving up. Till next time....