Collecting at Telogia Creek

This may not look like much at first glance, but if you look closely you will notice that what looks like dirt or algae is actually a pair of eyes.  They belong to a flatfish called the hogchoker (Trinectes maculates)

      I had only been in Auburn for 6 days before the sunshine state lured me back home.  On Tuesday, however, I wasn't going home for a visit.  My lab mates and I went down south to Telogia Creek to collect some banner fin shiners (Cyprinella leedsi).  For me personally, the trip was a little ironic.  After anxiously waiting to start school at Auburn, I ended up going to a site less than an hour from Florida State, where I recently spent four years as an undergrad.  Fortunately, the panhandle of Florida has a special charm so I didn't mind being back.  There is something alluring about the mix of tannic and spring fed streams, lush deciduous trees and towering pines, and sandy slopes and moist floodplains that I just can't resist.  The live oaks (Quercus virginiana) covered in resurrection fern and spanish moss conjure up images of the deep south while the sabal palms (Sabal palmetto) and sea breezes remind one that the bountiful Gulf of Mexico is not out of reach.  However, on Tuesday I learned that not everyone feels that way.  Apparently some Alabamians view the Florida panhandle the same way that the panhandlers view Alabama (while people from the rest of Florida jokingly refer to the panhandle as southern Alabama).  I insisted that if everyone tried smoked mullet, a local delicacy, their opinions would instantly change.
      Anyway, back to the fish collecting.  Telogia Creek, a tributary of the Ochlockonee River, was our destination and the bannerfin shiner was our quarry.  The creek was bordered by beautiful bald cypresses (Taxodium distichum) and rich floodplain forests.  The water looked like a good habitat for fish and also felt very inviting in the midday heat, despite the fact that the tannic water prevented us from seeing the bottom in most places.  With some seining, and a little swimming, we found some bannerfin shiners and some other interesting species as well.  Perhaps my favorite find of the day was the hogchoker (Trinectes maculates).  It is a small flatfish that looks a somewhat like a small flounder (there are actually very noticeable differences, but to many laypeople it looks like a small flounder).  I was familiar with them from coastal estuaries, but I never knew how far upstream they could go.  We were miles from the coast but there were hogchokers.  I managed to capture some cool videos of them.  Pay close attention to the dorsal (back) side of the fish and you might notice filamentous protrusions called cirri.

A quick glimpse of the iridescent colors on the bannerfin shiner (Cyprinella leedsi).

A dorsal view of a hogchoker buried in sand.

     In the end, it was a great day in one of America's great places (the panhandle of course).  I had a lot of fun collecting our fish and getting to know my lab mates. I can't wait to go back out again.