Jareardy

Just got these from my trip to the local water reservoir. Any help at all ID'ing these will be nice. If anyone wants any, I can probably make another trip down there and harvest some more.

Fauna:







Flora:

Jareardy

I'm thinking the fish is some kind of goby

mistergreen

1. ramshorn
2. some sort of darter
3. same.
4. water milfoil, Myriophyllum spicatum
5. ???

CaptainNemo

2 & 3. Not a darter, looks like a goby to me as well. Does it have fused pelvic fins? If so then a goby for sure. Possibly some sort of sculpin. I'm not sure if thsoe are in CA.
4. Looks like milfoil to me as well. Don't know CA laws but that's an invasive weed and is illegal to possess in many places.
5. Looks like Potamogeton crispus, also an introduced plant might check CA law, I know thats illegal here in MI, even though it's everywhere along with the milfoil.

Oh yeah, be cautious if that's a goby, as it may also be an invasive species. There's 2 species causing problems here in the Great Lakes.

Jareardy

Thanks a lot everyone. I'll probably keep the milfoil though. I love how it looks in the tank, it has a nice soft look to it.

It's tough, it looks like a goby. But then I look at the pictures of a darter and say, no that's a darter.....

hooha

The 2nd plant looks like some type of Potamogeton.

The fish looks like a darter to me - do they have freshwater gobies where you live?

Remember that if you decide to get rid of the fauna, don't put them back in the wild - euthanize them if need be.

Jareardy

Okay, will do, why is this though? Do they get too used to the water or something similar?

hooha

From what I've read, there is concern that you can add a harmful pathogen with this type of practice......

bgzbgz

Think like Europeans and Indians and smallpox.

helenf

Yes, definitely don't put them back into the wild.

If they pick up some disease from say a plant in your tank, or a piece of equipment that has been n touch with other fish that have come from who-knows-where-in-the-world, then you could introduce a new disease into your local ecosystem and the native fishes and animals might not have any resistance to it at all. It isn't enough to say "well my fish aren't sick", because there could be something that your fish have a resistance to but are still carrying, so you wouldn't even know that it was there in your tanks before letting it loose.

For the same reason, it is always important to make sure that any plant clippings you throw out don't get into local waterways or ponds, as they could give some disease or parasite to the local flora.