More Stripetails At Estill Fork Than We Thought

Robert spent the afternoon yesterday curating the fishes we collected on Saturday at Estill Fork. Close examination of the stripetails/fantails showed that 7 of 11 are stripetails rather than fantails, reversing our initial assessment. Two traits can be seen in preserved specimens to separate the species: the stripetails have a dark submarginal band on the first dorsal fin, and the striping pattern on the tail is both richer and darker. Also, the stripetails are lighter ventrally and don't have as pointed a head when observed from above. The challenge for us will be to quickly, accurately ID the species when pulling them out of a seine at both the Flint and Estill Fork. We've been kinda OK up to this point with IDs, now I think we can be much more accurate.

We'll be going to the Flint early Monday afternoon to run the driftnets since the new moon is Monday. The high temperature is predicted to be 47 F, so it will be a brisk experience standing around the river. At least the sun should be out.