🎶I’m dreaming of a White #Fishmas🎶
Even if there’s no snow on the ground wherever you find yourself this year, our final fish feature will ensure all your #Fishmas-es will be white! ❄️
The White Crappie (Pomoxis annularis) helps us close out this year's #25DaysofFishmas
Co-ho-ho! 🎅
Silver bells are ringing in Day 24's star - the silver salmon! Better known as Coho Salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch), this popular sportfish (+ final #SundayFishSketch mystery species!) took the #GreatLakes by storm when introduced in the 1960s #25DaysofFishmas
Happy Festivus! Time for an Airing of Grievances towards an invasive species yet not in the #GreatLakes - and despite its “Frankenfish” nickname, isn’t quite as scary as horror movies make it seem! Day 23’s #Fishmas Grinch is the Northern Snakehead (Channa argus) #25DaysofFishmas
The least darter is one of >200 species of small, bottom-dwelling fish known as darters. Darters are members of the Percidae (Perch) family endemic to North America - meaning they’re only found there - with the Southeast U.S. being the hotspot of darter diversity #25DaysofFishmas
Sometimes called the “King of Fish,” the Atlantic salmon is a member of the Salmo genus, with their closest relatives in the #GreatLakes being the non-native brown trout (Salmo trutta) - not the Pacific salmon that are more well-known! #25DaysofFishmas
Carp the herald angels sing! 🎶
Day 20’s #Fishmas party crasher may not be native to the #GreatLakes, but it has been a common sight for over 100 years - it’s the common carp (Cyprinus carpio)! #25DaysofFishmas
The pugnose shiner is a small (<2 in/5 cm long) silvery minnow whose most distinctive feature - and namesake - is a small mouth that’s so sharply upturned it’s nearly vertical. The scientific name “anogenus” comes from Greek meaning “without a chin” #25DaysofFishmas
Hey wait a second, that’s no fish!
Day 18 of #25DaysofFishmas brings a visit from a Sandy Claws imposter: the Rusty Crayfish (Faxonius rusticus), an invasive crustacean throughout much of the #GreatLakes and unexpected #Fishmas party crasher
The black buffalo is part of the Ictiobus genus (buffalofish) which includes some of the largest members of the North American sucker family - though black buffalo aren’t the largest (that honor goes to bigmouth buffalo), they can still weigh up to 63 lb/28 kg! #25DaysofFishmas
You couldn’t PICK a better fish to help ring in the #Fishmas season on Day 16!
The grass pickerel (Esox americanus vermiculatus) is the Tiny Tim of the pike family and a small but mighty addition to #25DaysofFishmas!
Blueback herring are native to the east coast of North America from Nova Scotia south to Florida. They've been intentionally stocked as forage fish outside their native range in places like the Carolinas, and were first seen in Lake Ontario in 1995 #25DaysofFishmas
The cutlip minnow is part of the family Leuciscidae, a group that includes the "true" minnows. Despite being part of this big family, the cutlip minnow has only one other species in its genus Exoglossum: the closely-related tonguetied minnow #25DaysofFishmas
Nightmare before #Fishmas 🎃🎄
It may not be a Friday, but Day 13 is the perfect time to highlight a blood-sucking fish that seems more suited for Halloween! Given its history in the #GreatLakes, the sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) can definitely be spooky #25DaysofFishmas