An aquatic expedition produces venomous catfish!

Well, hello again! I haven't made a post in two weeks and that's about the longest that I've gone in years. Somehow, I got myself ensnarled in a perfect storm of giving three new talks in mostly far-flung places, all of which had to mostly be built from scratch. And even bigger and more time-consuming has been finishing writing of what should be a very cool book. More on that to come, of course.

All that has kept me from the field and from taking photos. I've been wanting to write about this expedition since we made it back on February 22 - about the last great field excursion that I've had. So, finally, here it is!

 A beautiful riffle-pool complex along an exceptional tributary stream of the Scioto River, not far from Circleville. I've spent many an hour in the waters of this creek over the years, trying to capture fish, and it was great to back at it on this gorgeous crisp February day.

I was most fortunate to be in the company of some extremely knowledgeable aquatic biologists. That's Amy Mackey in the middle. She is the coordinator of the Raccoon Creek Watershed Program, and their work has gone a long way in improving the health of one of southeastern Ohio's most significant streams. Kelly Capuzzi is the other and she is amazing. An aquatic biologist for the Ohio EPA, Kelly KNOWS FISH. Countless hours spent waist deep in streams capturing fish and other aquatic organisms has given her a deep knowledge of what lurks under the surface. Thanks to Phil Melillo - the fourth member of our party - for taking this photo.

We lucked out right off the bat with the capture of this stunning river redhorse, Moxostoma carinatum. They used to be quite rare in Ohio, but have been making a comeback due to improvements in water quality. It's primarily a species of big rivers, such as the Ohio, Muskingum, and Scioto, and this animal was not too far upstream from the Scioto River in the tributary where we caught it.

A closer view of the handsome sucker. This species and the other six redhorse species found in Ohio waters are mostly quite sensitive to water quality degradation. Excessive siltation is particularly harmful as silt clogs their gills, causing asphyxiation. It also smothers stream substrates and the macroinvertebrates that redhorse feed on.

We were using seines on this day, and were particularly interested in certain small species of bottom-dwellers. Dragging a seine is the most efficient way to capture these fishes. This bluebreast darter, Etheostoma camurum, was one of our finds. Darters are tiny members of the perch family, and lack air bladders. Thus, they stay on the stream bottom and snag small aquatic macroinvertebrates among the rocky cobble.

Not so long ago, bluebreast darters were quite rare in Ohio, and were listed as endangered at one time. Their recovery in the last few decades has been stunning, and cause for optimism when it comes to repairing damage that we have done to the environment. Like the previous redhorse, this species has benefited from efforts to purge streams of various forms of pollutants. A lot of the recovery of such fishes can be traced to policies put in place in the early days of the EPA, which was started by a Republican president, Richard Nixon, in 1970. The rebound of aquatic communities took decades, but we are seeing the benefits big time today. Unfortunately, damage to streams can occur FAR faster than their recovery, and it's critical to maintain the strategies that led to their recovery.

I was indeed pleased to once again cast eyes on one of my favorite fish, the Tippecanoe darter, Etheostoma tippecanoe. These golden elfins share much the same story as the bluebreast darter above in terms of imperilment, and recovery.

This is the third in a trio of once rare (still not all that common) darters that can co-occur in prime riffles, the spotted darter, Etheostoma maculatum. The males of these darters - and the other species - will be coming into breeding colors before too long. For a short period in spring, they become vividly marked with bright primary colors and must be seen to be believed. Indeed, one species is named the rainbow darter. You can see that species and some others in their nuptial finery in THIS POST.

A pair of young brindled madtoms, Noturus miurus. We captured and released four of them (we release all fish that we catch on these aquatic forays). There are six madtom species in Ohio (one, the Scioto madtom, has been declared extinct) and all are primarily nocturnal. These small catfish are distinctive in that they have venom glands at the base of the pectoral fins. Anyone who mishandles a madtom learns about this the hard way. A quick jab from one of the spines delivers a punishing wasp-like sting.

I'm hoping for at least two more such stream trips this spring, and especially hope to catch some more madtoms - and write a more detailed piece about these most interesting of fishes.