The Tank-Bred Scarlet Shiner Fry Have Arrived

I met Phil Kukulski and party this morning at a gas station off off I-65 between Decatur and Huntsville, AL. They were on their way north to Indianapolis to visit Charlie Grimes after collecting fish throughout Alabama and the Florida panhandle. Lucky for me, pretty much all of the scarlet shiner fry that Phil had for me survived an extra five days of driving around since I wasn't able to meet them last Wednesday. He had three age-specific bags with fry no older than 42 days. I hope to raise most of them, and to observe growth rates. Two 22-day-old fry were dead, and I've put them in 10% buffered formaldehyde so that I can photograph them on my digital camer equipped dissecting 'scope tomorrow. We'll probably try to stain them with Nissl stain and visualize the brain and nervous system. I have no idea if this will work, but it's worth a try.

Below is a shot of the van pulling into the gas station. It's Jim Graham's "Ichthyovan", and he's at the wheel if you look very closely. Phil K is in the front passenger seat, and Todd Crail is in the back seat (not visible). The back half of the van is dense-packed coolers with serious air lines running in and around them. The expedition collected a lot of the species that you'd come to Alabama for: rainbow shiners, various Pteronotropis species, etc., species that you just can't find in Michigan.