Tag: justina parsons-bernstein
Weather Loach in Utah – Another Invasive Species
On December 12, 2007 I photographed this Common Goldeneye with a fish at Farmington Bay Wildlife Management Area. At the time I didn’t pay much attention to what kind of fish it might be and then just kind of forgot about it. Male Common Goldeneye with unidentified (at the time) fish The moment of capture Then, on October 2, 2008, I took some photos of a Snowy Egret fishing, also at Farmington. Finally, I became curious about the unusual fish – noticing the atypical elongated almost eel-like body in particular. I made some casual inquiries of refuge personnel about fish species present there but didn’t get anything definitive that would match this fish. More time went by, then I finally showed Justina Parsons-Bernstein some of the photos and asked her about the fish. She is the Director of The Great Salt Lake Nature Center at Farmington Bay WMA and she was also curious as to what species of fish it was so she sent some of my images to a vertebrate specialist with the state of Utah. He keyed it out as a Weather Loach. It turns out that the Weather Loach or Dojo Loach as it is also known (Misgurnus anguillicaudatus) is quite a remarkable fish. The name Weather Loach comes from the fact that it is highly sensitive to minor changes in barometric pressure and when it perceives such a change its behaviour becomes erratic, active and animated. Humans have kept them captive as a weather indicator for centuries. They are a very hardy species, capable of surviving poor conditions by swallowing atmospheric…
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Weather Loach in Utah – Another Invasive Species
On December 12, 2007 I photographed this Common Goldeneye with a fish at Farmington Bay Wildlife Management Area. At the time I didn’t pay much attention to what kind of fish it might be and then just kind of forgot about it. Male Common Goldeneye with unidentified (at the time) fish The moment of capture Then, on October 2, 2008, I took some photos of a Snowy Egret fishing, also at Farmington. Finally, I became curious about the unusual fish – noticing the atypical elongated almost eel-like body in particular. I made some casual inquiries of refuge personnel about fish species present there but didn’t get anything definitive that would match this fish. More time went by, then I finally showed Justina Parsons-Bernstein some of the photos and asked her about the fish. She is the Director of The Great Salt Lake Nature Center at Farmington Bay WMA and she was also curious as to what species of fish it was so she sent some of my images to a vertebrate specialist with the state of Utah. He keyed it out as a Weather Loach. It turns out that the Weather Loach or Dojo Loach as it is also known (Misgurnus anguillicaudatus) is quite a remarkable fish. The name Weather Loach comes from the fact that it is highly sensitive to minor changes in barometric pressure and when it perceives such a change its behaviour becomes erratic, active and animated. Humans have kept them captive as a weather indicator for centuries. They are a very hardy species, capable of surviving poor conditions by swallowing atmospheric…