Scarlet Shiner Picture And Fundulus bifax Status

The scarlet shiner image analysis project is moving ahead. Below is one of the images that Jennifer took last weekend. We're putting in paint swatches for color calibration, and of course there's a ruler for size approximation. The Image Tool software is extremely precise at measuring images in a photo; all we have to do now is fully understand the nuances of color analysis.


I've also started to work with Joe Scanlan in Montgomery on the status of Fundulus bifax, the Stippled Studfish. This fish is pretty much a Tallapoosa River endemic, apparently with an historic range extending upstream into Georgia. Efforts to find the fish at the two historic collection sites in Georgia were unsuccessful last summer, so it appears that this is now an Alabama endemic. Joe has been able to spawn the fish in captivity, but with limited success at rearing fry. He also wants to bring the species' plight to broader attention. It's unclear what the species' range was in Alabama, although Joe has some idea of its current range from his own work. This fish seems to be very sensitive to land use changes in stream basins, especially those changes that affect the cleanliness of gravel substrates. The expansion of the cancer known as Atlanta seems to be responsible for altering the few Georgia streams that were home to this species, such that successful reproduction probably failed. Our task is to convince other people to care at least a little about such an obscure, nongame fish.