Quarry Fish

[Paul_C]

My son Daniel has recently been setting shrimp traps in a local old quarry and along with shrimp he has caught a few fish we can’t identify anyway heres the photo.

[Fitzy]

Looks like a Gambusia aka Mosquitofish Gambusia affinis I think is their latin name. Introduced Noxious pest. Kill them mate. Introduced in a bid to control mossies but it turned out that our Aussie fish are better at it. Now they predate on & compete with our natives.

The black dot in front of the vent is the key to picking them.

See http://www.dpi.qld.gov.au/fishweb/2397.html
&
http://www.dpi.qld.gov.au/fishweb/14477.html#3

Fitzy..

[el_carpo]

Hiya Paul C.

As soon as I saw the picture of the fish pop up I said to myself, "What the heck?! Isn't that a sword-tail? What's that thing doing in Australia?" They are native to Mexico and South America. I'm an aquarium enthusiast and have raised many swordtail over the years and that, I believe is an example of a wild or green variety. The dark spot you see are the babies (their eyes). After reading Fitzy's post, I wanted to make sure it wasn't a Gambusia. We have Gambusia here in the states as well. Introduced to kill the mosquitos, they have spread like wild fire and can be found in nearly every lake, pond, river, puddle, etc. so I'm very familiar with them. I searched the net and found this page. Sure enough, I was right. You have a sword-tail problem. Aquarium enthusiasts have dumped their unwanted fish into the wild and they have taken hold. You are supposed to kill them. Here's the page.

http://www.dpi.qld.gov.au/fishweb/14085.html

The previous page only had a lousy sketch, so I found this page. http://www.aquazoo.co.uk/page.cfm/Type=Fish/ID=372 This is a picture of the green swordtail. The one you have there is not a pure green (wild) one (which makes sense. You wouldn't want to buy one from a pet store when you can get one of the "fancier" varieties.) Yours is what looks to be the offspring of a cross between a wilder one and a red. Not terrible, but not what is most sought after. You're going to have baby fish pretty soon by the looks of her. No telling what you'll get there. If you want to raise them, you'll have to watch closely and load the tank with plants. They eat their young with a vengeance! :o Take the mother out of the tank as soon as she's done popping them out and feed them a baby fish food product when they are ready (after the yolk sacs are gone.

I don't know if it's legal to keep them as aquarium pets or not. If it is, hey you have a new family pet! Free of charge! :)

E.C.

[agnes_jack]

E.C.
Mate I think you will find that thephoto is actually a Gambusia.
They are absolutely rampant over here, spread from one end of the country to the other. The females have that black spot regardless of whether they are carrying young or not. I had a dam dug a while back, after the first rains my dam filled with the little vermin. They swim in the most minute little runs of water, spreading from dam to dam with ease.
I feed my pet mangrove jack about 20-30 per day (about the only good use for the mongrels. When they breed they produce up to 50 live young and the development time is only 3 weeks :o. The young become mature in only 8 weeks :o and breed 3-4 times per year. They can survive in water as cold as 40 degrees farenheit and have been found in bore drains in water that was 102 degrees. Females are larger than males, and grow to2.5 inches. They are regarded here as an introduced pest.

Regards, Tony

[Paul_C]

(Pauls son Daniel)
I had a feeling that they werent native, I've been doing alot and I mean alot of research into this so we can stock our small dam with all natives. Now I have been catching alot mosquito fish and I have been for lack of a better word culling them, but I wasnt sure these were them. However armed with this knowledge Im off to cull me some more of the nasty little pesk's.

Btw - I have been catching a number Firetail Gudgeon and I was wondering what else I should be looking for to start the ecosystem in the dam.

Thanks for the response's guys ;)

[ba229]

lol looks like a female guppy to me

[agnes_jack]

Daniel
There are a heap of suitable natives you can put in your dam, just be sure they are native to your catchment area first.
Some that may suit would be the Rainbow fishes, Empire gudgeons, Perchlet's, Blue-eye,Fly-specked hardyhead,silver streaked hardyhead and Smelts. As I said though be sure they are native to your area.


Regards, Tony

PS I will get a good photo of a gambusia, to compare and confirm with the one above.

[Neil_c]

That's gotta be a hen green swordtail, I remember catching em as a kid around south brisbane, back then a red swordy was a real prize. We would get heaps of mosquito fish also, the native and ornamental variety.

Neil :)

[agnes_jack]

Ya could be right Neil!
As I said I'll get another photo of a definate gambusia so we can compare.
On second look they are very similar.

Regards, Tony

P.S. my apologies if I'm wrong E.C. and daniel! :-/

[Neil_c]

I just did a quick search and found these, not the best of photos but may help :)

http://www.frcac.nsw.gov.au/hab/alien_fish.htm

http://www.dpi.qld.gov.au/fishweb/14477.html


Neil :)

[Paul_C]

Too late now the large female was shollowed whole by my friends red devil .... and the rest are haplessly swimming to there certain demise at the teeth of the same fish.

[Neil_c]

Buurrrrrpppp ;D

[fish_man]

thats a female on, the smaller ones with out the black dots on them are females, put them in ur dam with your natives, they will love to chase them around and eat em, also creatres better fishing! ;D

[el_carpo]

;D A "gulp" fish! -- A big fish sees him and GULP! ;D

That "Burrrrrrrppppp!" post nearly killed me Neil! Very funny! ;D

I'm not too sure I would put them in my private pond if I were you. If it's illegal to be in possession of a wild one and a Natural Resources officer gets a look at a whole pond full of them, the "I'm using them for food for the other fish" may not play too well. I don't know the rules for Australia, but I know that if someone was tossing gobys (an invasive species we're having trouble with here) into their private pond, the fine would be enough to fund the first manned space voyage to Mars! :o ;D ;D ;D

I'd get the rules down first if I were you. Gambusia, swordtail, or anything else that's on the "don't get caught with one or we'll fine you into oblivion" list.

Anyway, it's neat to see the picture (whatever it was--burrrpppp! ;D ;D ;D)

Oh yeah, with all of the fish talk, I forgot to ask. How did the shrimp gathering go? Have you caught a bunch or is it hit or miss? Do you use them for bait or are they food- "Burrrpppp!" ;D What kind of trap do you use? How do they work? ...and so on and so forth..... sorry for all the questions. I'm from the other side of the planet so I don't know very much about how things are done in Australia yet. But I'm learning thanks to you Ausfishers! Thanks a million! :)

E.C.

[Paul_C]

Well first of all heres 1 style of trap I use which is actually illsuited for the task due to the large size of the mesh http://www.keetonaqua.com/TrapFTFA.JPG Theres also another type with a much finer mesh that catchs a great deal more. Basically they work like any crab trap with a raised entrance they can go in through but not escape.

Shrimp over here love structure especially weed bed's so I just go to the water mark and cast them in as close to the weed beds as possible. I use lamb as bait but potatoe is also know to be a good bait either way I get a good haul probally because no one else knows about this place.

[el_carpo]

Thanks Paul C for the picture and explaination. Very neat to see and read.

Good luck in all your future shrimping/fishing outings. I hope your spots keep producing for you.

E.C.

[Tuna_Pie]

yep i got about 3 of em in my fishtank it is a swordtail but if i remember right only the males have the long tail bit :)

[Jim_Tait]

EC and others are difinately right - it is a female swordtail - lacks the black dots on the belly of gambusia - the closest other thing you'll will find to it feral in some waterwys is platys - but they're much shorter and thick set.

EC is also right in saying stocking gambusia is bad news - although most larger native predators will eat them they do impact on larvae / fingerlings of manay species, and there are a bunch of natives that make better prey species i.e. bony bream and empire gudeons (northern NSW - Qld + parts of MDB) and smelt for southern temperate waters.

Regards - Jim

[Fitzy]

Well there ya go. I stand corrected.

Fitz..

[aussiebasser]

It certainly looks like a Xiphophorus helleri to me.
It may be a Poecilia sphenops but these (Mollies) are slightly shorter and deeper, similar to Xiphophorous maculatus (Platy). Yep definately a female Swordtail, which doesn't have a sword.
All are live bearers and prolific breeders.

[agnes_jack]

Sorry guys for the misleading :-[
I think you are dead right after further investigation.
I too stand corrected!

Regards, Tony :-[

[michael_Brewer]

El carpo, we do use very strange methods. The cage that paul posted is a very similiar design to the one I caught my first drop-bear with! We've been very successful!

mick

[jewies]

hahahhaahahah mick lol ;D

[el_carpo]

;D....Nice try mister Brewer, but you're too late! I'm very aware of the "Drop Bear" and it's mischievious origins! ;D

Now who's up for a good old-fashioned snipe hunt? We use traps like those to catch them too. I think they have a shared ancestry, the drop-bear and snipe. ;D

As far as being sorry for being misleading, Tony and Fitzy, don't be. If I had a dime for every time I've been wrong, I'd be a millionaire, a billion times over! ;) ;D --I'm kind of dumb. ;D Well, a little. ;)

Like I said earlier, I have raised a load of them over the years so I had a little head start on this. This has been the first time in my life being an aquarium nerd has come in handy for me! ;D

Drop bears indeed! >:(..... ;D ;D ;D

E.C. --Aquarium nerd and snipe-hunter supreme! 8)

[Paul_C]

El Carpo
Is this what a Snipe looks like

http://warriorsrealm.vonetwork.com/forums/uploads/post-25-1084533122_thumb.jpg
Note this image is copyright of 'Darius' @ http://greendash.deviantart.com/

Daniel - *cough cough*

[Paul_C]

Sorry about the double post but its daniel again I just have another interesting thing to show off check this out for a shrimp (Its just not normal)

[el_carpo]

;D Well, sort of Daniel. The picture only confirms what I've already suspected. The two animals are definately related. The Australian "Drop bear" is quite a menacing animal alright, but it's American counterpart is, as you would suspect, a larger, louder, more ferocious and less laid-back beast. Same thing goes with women, I think. I'm now being hit in the head by my sister who is reading over my shoulder. :o ;D Ah well, one must suffer for one's art.

That shrimp looks like he fishes for tuna. Stretched arms and all. ;D

[Jim_Tait]

Daniel,

how close is you quarry hole to a creek and does it have connections to estuarine waters?

The shrimp looks larger than your average Macrobrachium australiense which is our most common freshwater shrimp in eastern drainages and looks a bit more like M. tolmerum which is a freshwater species but never found far from (~10km) from estuaries are you in tropical or subtropical Australia?

In teh north we have a couple of humongous shrimp species including M. lar and M. rosenbergi (ohoto attached) - you only need a couple of these to have a feed - and they're generally way to good to eat to use for bait - although barra love em!!

Regards - Jim

[Paul_C]

Daniel - Theres no question about there been a creek within 10k's it was a sand quarry and they were digging out the creek. So there is no little possibility that its a M. tolmerum hopefully I will catch some more and figure out just what else is lurking in those muddy waters.

[Cloud_9]

thats just a normal freshwater shrimp. have caught heaps of them in the albert River ,
up past the dam.
bass luv them.

Cheers Cloud 9

[lordy]

Well first of all heres 1 style of trap I use which is actually illsuited for the task due to the large size of the mesh http://www.keetonaqua.com/TrapFTFA.JPG Theres also another type with a much finer mesh that catchs a great deal more. Basically they work like any crab trap with a raised entrance they can go in through but not escape.

Shrimp over here love structure especially weed bed's so I just go to the water mark and cast them in as close to the weed beds as possible. I use lamb as bait but potatoe is also know to be a good bait either way I get a good haul probally because no one else knows about this place.


If you put a little gravy with that lamb and potato you might just find me in there. buurrrppp