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Post by vladsbtch on Oct 23, 2009 13:33:21 GMT -6
My oldest son and I went to the creek behind where we live and caught 5 crays, 3 shiners (I think that is what they are) and this one fish I really like and will have to find more of them. I was told it is possibly a sculpin. Never heard of them but it is cool like my goby with using the bottom fins like suction cups.  Attachments:
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angel
FORUM BEGINNER
My Husband's A Birdbrain
Posts: 40
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Post by angel on Oct 23, 2009 13:43:02 GMT -6
that is SO cool! It does look a lot like a goby!
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Post by titansfever83 on Oct 23, 2009 13:52:45 GMT -6
That is a Darter. Not sure which one though. We have them buy the dozens in our local streams. They're very fun to watch!
I like the Orangethroat Darters the best, but there are hundreds of different species.
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Post by vladsbtch on Oct 23, 2009 14:40:05 GMT -6
well I looked it up and found out that the fish I caught is a banded sculpin. I am glad to know what it is now. ;D
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Post by titansfever83 on Oct 23, 2009 14:47:53 GMT -6
Never heard of them before though I'm not very good with IDing any of our native fish.
It's very neat either way, you plan on trying to collect more of them?
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Post by jtrotter77 on Oct 23, 2009 15:31:01 GMT -6
I was thinking banded sculpin but the head looks a tad to small. It looks like a darter to me. maybe a front view will be better. Banded sculpins have very broad heads with huge mouths. their heads look to large for their bodies. I raised natives for years and had tons of sculpins. You can usually catch them very easy as they will most of the time let you come up on them and just grab them. They usually dont swim off till you actually touch them and then only go a few inches. they are mad eaters. They like really cold water and prefer strong current. they will get about 3-4" on average but can get a little larger if really taken care of. The banded sculpin looks alot like a sleeper goby and the mouth is very similar to them also.
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Post by jtrotter77 on Oct 23, 2009 15:34:35 GMT -6
after looking closer I dont think its a sculpin. Like I said a front view pic would help but sculpins heads are much larger and the curve to the body is a good indicator that its not. Sculpins normally lay flat and have a think body not a long thin body. Also they are slow swimmers unless threatened. Darters are fast as hell.
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Post by jtrotter77 on Oct 23, 2009 15:45:16 GMT -6
certainly a darter. the eyes sit on top. sculpins sit on the side. here are pics of a banded sculpin. Note the large head and broad body.  |
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Post by jtrotter77 on Oct 23, 2009 15:48:23 GMT -6
Darters can be beautiful I think the rainbow darter is one of the most gorgeous fish in the world and they are all over the place around here. They stay pretty small and are easy to keep. I have caught tons of them aswell. here are some pics of male rainbows. I actually had some that were alot nicer than these but I just grabbed a few pics off the net.  |
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Post by vladsbtch on Oct 23, 2009 16:03:32 GMT -6
Mine has the big head I just couldn;t get a good pic of it. doesn't look like the darter at all but just like the banded sculpin. I will try to get a head on pic of it. The you can tell.
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Post by vladsbtch on Oct 23, 2009 16:18:30 GMT -6
ok my camera sux but here it is and he was not happy about the photo shoot. lol Attachments:
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Post by vladsbtch on Oct 23, 2009 16:29:58 GMT -6
Oh, I want some darters they are beautiful. Where do you find them?
I plan on trying to get more of the sculpins. A friend of mine says that they are not to hard to breed and the fathers make good parents. I have a sleeper goby I got from a friend of mine in alabama. It is only a young one. I want more of them too. Do we have them around here? I need to take a trip to alabama and get some natives from there. They have some of the prettiest darters i have ever seen.
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Post by jtrotter77 on Oct 23, 2009 17:03:27 GMT -6
yes thats a sculpin. its a bit skinny though so you may want to lower temp and try to feed some worms to fatten it up. As for sleepers we dont have them. IF you go into south west TN you may stumble upon one by accident but not likely. as for darters we have tons of them. one of the nicest besides the rainbow darter is the tangerine darter. They live in east TN and get rather large where darters are concerned. found some pics online  Also we have log perch (this is also a type of darter. I had some that were about 7" long)   |
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Post by vladsbtch on Oct 23, 2009 17:37:44 GMT -6
I caught it in cold water and the tank that it is in has no heat. so it is probably 70 degrees. He was skinny when i got him. I have a 20 gal tank on the porch i was thinking of using for the natives as they can take the cold. Do you think that would be ok for them?
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Post by jtrotter77 on Oct 23, 2009 18:36:32 GMT -6
for a sculpin a 20 is fine. And yes they can take really cold water well. Just make sure to not let it freeze obviously. and add a powerhead to give it a strong current.
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