Fishing Column: Fish biologists honor 5 political figures
Two scientists have just discovered Teddy Roosevelt, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, Al Gore and Barack Obama. They were living in freshwater river systems in the United States.
Richard Mayden, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Biology, and Steven Layman, Ph.D., of Geosyntec Consultants in Kennesaw, Ga., recently discovered five new species of darters living in waters in Tennessee, Missouri, Arkansas, Kentucky, Kansas and Oklahoma.
Darters are a group of fish found only in North America and are known for beautiful color patterns.
The biologists have named them after five well-known U.S. political figures as homage to their conservation efforts. The five newly-discovered species of darter were named after Presidents Teddy Roosevelt, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama and former vice president Al Gore.
As the discoverers of the new species, Mayden and Layman got the opportunity to select their scientific name. The five new species scientific and common names are: Etheostoma teddyroosevelt (Highland Darter); Etheostoma jimmycarter (Bluegrass Darter); Etheostoma clinton (Beaded Darter); Etheostoma gore (Cumberland Darter) and Etheostoma obama (Spangled Darter).
According to the Tennessee Aquarium Conservation Institute, the new fish were named for politicians who have worked to support clean energy, conservation efforts and environmental protection policies.
The two natural scientists also hoped that naming the new species after such well-known public figures will help publicize the need for recognition of biodiversity, conservation and maintaining environmental conditions conducive to the survival of biodiversity and humans.
The five elected leaders join the growing list of politicians and celebrities such as Bob Marley (a crustacean), Yoda (a sea worm), Liv Tyler (a beetle) Sid Vicious (a trilobite) Oliver Hardy (a cicada) and Stan Laurel (another cicada) that have species named after them.
The colors and patterns of these fish are breathtaking. You can view a slide show depicting the five newly discovered species at the Saint Louis university web site -- www.slu.edu/x69376.xml
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The cold weather along with a day of rain mixed with snow kept many anglers off the water. However, many were out fishing and they caught fish.
Nick at Fisherman's World reported that his customers are catching lots of walleye and rainbow trout at the Saugatuck Reservoir. Last week David Lehman fished at the Saugatuck Reservoir and caught several fish including a 23 and a 25-inch walleye. He also caught a couple rainbow trout. All of the fish were taken using live shiners as bait.
Nick also said that an angler known only as Wes caught a couple of nice walleye at the Saugatuck Reservoir. Using live shiners he caught a 23 and a 25-inch walleye as well as a couple of smaller rainbow trout.
Trout fishing is still good in the Wilson section of the Norwalk River. Last week Mike Sherman and Fred Kunkel caught and released six trout ranging from 10 to 14 inches in length. They used worms for bait.
Blackfish season ends on December 6 so if you want some tautog you have only a few days left to catch them. Fishing for blacks is slow and tricky. Some anglers are finding them in shallow waters while others are finding them in waters 50-feet deep or more.
Bob Kloz, Tom Doyle and Ross Daily fished in 50 feet of water off Norwalk last week. Together they caught 35 blackfish. Only 12 of the fish were large enough to keep. In total, they kept six fish weighing up to 8 pounds. The fish were taken on green crabs.
Dr. Joe Worthington and his son, Matthew, fished in Fairfield waters for blackfish last week. They caught four blackfish using green crabs.
Capt. Mike Black of My Love Charters went blackfish a couple of times last week off Stamford. Both times he returned empty handed. Later in the week he fished for striped bass off Hempstead Harbor where he caught and released a dozen linesiders measuring between 16 and 25 inches. He was using Ava 827 jigs.
Martin Armstrong is a member of the Fisheries Advisory Council, a lifetime member of Trout Unlimited and part of the Outdoors Writers Association
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