Yet More Cold Weather Collecting Of Scarlet Shiners

I went out midday to Limestone Creek aiming to collect about 20 more live young of the year scarlet shiners for the 11-KT project. Paul and James went with me, a first visit to this creek for both of them. The air temperature wasn't much above freezing, and water temperature was down to 3 deg. C from 8 deg. C last Friday. But the fishes were out and about, and after about an hour we had the fish we needed without mishap.

The young scarlets I've had for a week have already acclimated well to aquarium life. They hang out together in small schools facing into the current like good little drift feeders, waiting for food particles to come at them. Finely crushed dry fish food is taken by them, so they're actually beginning to look well-fed. We've decided that our protocol for exposing them to a dose of 11-KT will be adding the hormone to the water, and letting the fish take it up across their gills. The fish are way too small to be injected. I have to work it out with Amy what will be reasonable doses, based on such literature as exists on the subject.

The reprints of my Southeasten Naturalist article arrived today. I have to send some to Bob Muller, in particular. The journal has .pdf's available through the BioOne site online, but it turns out that the UAH library doesn't subscribe to BioOne so I can't get at a digital version of my article. I'm going to bug the editors politely for a copy, and then I can send it out to interested readers (like you?).