DARTER NEWSLETTER NUMBER 22 JANUARY-FEBRUARY 1997
The DARTER is a bimonthly publication of the North American Native Fishes 
Association (NANFA). Topics reported in this news letter include fish 
studies, rare or unusual occurrences, manage ment and recovery programs, 
environmental issues, trivia, col lecting trips, meetings, aquarium care, and 
breeding accounts. A Trading Post section is also provided for members to 
sell or trade fish, plants, books, and merchandise. Send news items, want 
ads, comments, changes in address, and membership dues ($15/yr.: North 
American residents - $17/yr.: other continents) to Konrad Schmidt, Darter 
Editor at the return address, phone: (612) 776-3468, or email: 
schmi144@tc.umn.edu
ASSISTANT DARTER EDITOR WANTED Next issue will mark two years since I 
resurrected the Darter and have enjoyed very much report ing on NANFA and our 
native fishes. I wish to continue, but my summer field work creates a major 
pinch period in preparing the July-August and September-October issues. Any 
members interested in lending a fin to edit these issues while I've gone 
fishing, please let me know. 
SWIMMING UPSTREAM WITHOUT A HITCH - The January-February 1994 Outdoor 
California reported on efforts to stem the decline of the Clear Lake hitch 
(Lavinia exilicauda chi). The word chi was what the Pomo Indians of the Clear 
Lake basin called this large minnow which reaches lengths of 14 inches. 
Negative impacts on the species include barriers on tributaries used for 
spawning, irrigation which dries up streams prematurely, and introduction of 
non-native fish (e.g., largemouth bass). Restoration efforts have focused on 
capturing and transporting hitch above barriers and designing or retrofitting 
dams and road crossings with fish passage features. Even though hitch 
spawning runs do not rival historical accounts, the public is encouraged to 
observe this impressive annual event. The Department of Fish and Game's re 
gional office in Yountville: (707) 944-5500 can provide addition al 
information such as locations and months for optimum viewing opportunities. 
The article also mentioned the demise of the Clear Lake splittail 
(Pogonichthys ciscooides) which has not been seen since the mid-1970s. On 
average, the splittail spawned two weeks later than the hitch and the 
deficient stream flows compounded with the other impacts apparently caused 
its extinction. 
ALGAE MANAGEMENT - Probably the best practice is controlling the amount and 
duration of light entering the aquarium. When setting up for the first time, 
select a room which does not receive direct sunlight (e.g., south exposures). 
Light fixtures should provide sufficient light to see into the aquarium, but 
avoid wattage overkill - more is not always better. Duration should ideally 
be around six hours a day and an electric timer is an excellent and 
inexpensive convenience. Another option is live, rooted plants which compete 
for the same nutrients as algae and when established usually gain the edge 
while adding a nice natu ral touch. One final must is a scraper that won't 
scratch the glass and has no detergents. The best and cheapest is a green 3M 
scrub pad available at grocery stores. However, when working in or near the 
bottom, watch out for gravel sandwiched between the glass and the pad.  On 
thick pastures, a single-edge razor 
blade provides a close shave, but one strip at a time and avoid slashing the 
glass.  
LOST MEMBERS - If anyone knows the current whereabouts of David Arbour 
(Crane, IN) or Charles Stoeckel (St. Cloud, MN), please forward their new 
addresses to the Darter Editor. 
EMAIL EXTRAS - (1) Norman Edelen (Portland, OR) now runs the NANFA on-line 
directory where members can send private email messages to individuals or 
memos to everyone listed in the direc tory. Anyone with email can join by 
sending your address to: normane@hevanet.com (2) Missing a Darter issue and 
just gotta have the entire set? Free text versions are available for Numbers 
10-22. Just send your email address and list of issues to the Darter Editor. 
(3) Robert Rice (Navarre, FL) is still editing an email Trading Post which is 
provided upon request and new ads are always welcomed, but his email address 
has been changed to: robertrice @juno.com (4) Email Membership Directory? 
Because of printing costs, NANFA can afford publishing a hard copy member 
ship directory about every other year. Knowing and meeting mem bers in your 
region for collecting trips or exchanging informa tion with others pursuing 
similar interests have long been very important benefits for joining NANFA. 
Because the Darter Editor also maintains the membership database, I can 
provide a revised, albeit bare bones, directory on a quarterly basis which 
will be released to only current NANFA members who have email or at a nominal 
price on diskette. However, to assure the information is current, everyone 
should check their mailing address, phone and fax numbers, and email in the 
May 1996 Directory. New members since May should be listed in upcoming 
American Currents. Any additions or corrections should be forwarded to me. 
Finally, NANFA also wants to protect the privacy of members who would prefer 
not having their personal information released. If so, please notify me by 
March 1, 1997. 
APOLOGIES to Gary Carbonneau (Windham, NH). The last Darter erroneously 
reported 4 members had been elected to the Board of Directors when there were 
only 3 open seats. Board communiques have been a little murky lately. 
However, the renewed interest in NANFA shown by the turnout of candidates 
running in the last election is commendable.
SHOCKING BEHAVIOR - Electroshockers create a condition in fish called 
galvanotaxis which is a forced swimming that is directed toward an electrode 
where a dipper eagerly awaits the incoming catch. However, this doesn't 
always go as planned with every species. The Darter Editor was backpack 
shocking in St. Croix River on the Minnesota-Wisconsin border for western 
sand darters (Ammocrypta clara) which often burrow into sand and cannot be 
seen even in shallow water. A sweep with the electrodes wand would, as 
expected, pull the darters out of the sand, but they would fire like mini 
missiles straight for the surface and 
ricochet in any direction out of the electrical field. The only specimens 
collected were strictly by chance as they skipped at blinding speed along the 
surface into a randomly positioned dipnet. What causes this bizarre reaction: 
body shape, physiolo gy, or nervous system? I haven't a clue, but have since 
returned to the far more reliable and much simpler seine.
MEMBERSHIP DUES should now be sent to the Darter Editor. Checks and money 
orders should be made out to NANFA and must be in U.S. funds. Annual dues are 
$15 for residents in North American and $17 for other continents. 
MAILBAG - Jay DeLong (Bonney Lake, WA) has proposed developing a NANFA 
website and is waiting for the green light from the Board of Directors. His 
initiative has generated a great deal of inter est and comments among NANFA 
on-line members about what are home page should contain and do. Elmer Guerri 
(West Terre Haute, IN), NANFA regional chairman, is developing a fish 
database for mem bers looking for specific species found in Illinois and 
Indiana. The first draft is expected before the first of the year. Dan Logan 
(Albany, OR) is busy planning a NANFA regional and possibly a national 
meeting in Portland, OR on August 8-10, 1997. He has already lined up a 
meeting room, speakers, caterer, and collect ing trip. Joe Middleton 
(Portland, OR) ordered the largest quan tity to date of I'd rather be 
collecting bumper stickers. He works in a collections department of a local 
bank and intends to hand them out to his fellow bill collectors - funny guy. 
Robert Rice (Navarre, FL) announced a fourth electronic bulletin board system 
(BBS) was up and running that has many text files of fish 
--- Maximus/2 3.01
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