• Fishes
• Amphibians & Reptiles
• Birds
• Mammals

ANNOTATED CHECKLIST OF FISHES
of the
ARCHBOLD BIOLOGICAL STATION,
Highlands County, Florida

by James N. Layne, December 1999
Nomenclature revised October 2004 following Nelson et al. 2004.

Introduction | Species List | Literature Cited | printer-friendly version
Navigation
Lepisosteiformes | Amiiformes | Cypriniformes | Siluriformes | Esociformes | Atheriniformes | Cyprinodontiformes | Perciformes

Florida Fish Links
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Freshwater Fishes
Check List | Photo Gallery

Ichthyology at the Florida State Museum
Freshwater Fish Key | Image Gallery

Introduction   Top

This list includes fishes recorded from the main property of Archbold Biological Station since 1967 by Station staff and visiting investigators. The classification and nomenclature follow Nelson et al. (2004). Collecting methods included dip nets, gigs, 10-foot minnow seine, wire traps, Wegener ring technique, and gill nets (Lake Annie). Most of the records for Lake Annie are of Nester (1976) and Werner et al. (1978), summarized by Layne (1979), and collections by J. L.Wolfe during 1986-1988. Wolfe (1988) included 23 species in a key to fishes of Lake Annie. Werner et al. made visual identifications from above water or under water using SCUBA or snorkeling gear. Keller (n.d.) reported on growth characteristics of a sample of largemouth bass collected in the lake in July 1984.

Twenty-four native species (11 families) and two introduced species are known from the Station. Of the native species, 18 (67%) are primary fresh water species and 6 (33%) in the families Fundulidae, Poeciliidae, and Atherinopsidae are secondary fresh water types. Because permanent aquatic habitats on the property are scarce, the fish fauna is relatively depauperate, including only about 56 percent of the native species occurring in southcentral Florida (Lee et al., 1980). The only permanent water bodies on the Station are Lake Annie and the small Sinkhole Pond (No. 6) in Tract 30. Most (22) of the species recorded from the Station occur in Lake Annie, and ten species are known only from the lake. A small depression, probably a sinkhole, in Big Pond (Tract 18, Pond No. 37) and the artificial water hole in Tract 18 usually contain some water except during extended drought. The remaining aquatic habitats of the property include seasonal ponds and ditches with highly variable hydroperiods. Some of the deeper seasonal ponds normally contain water during the rainy season and early part of the dry season each year and during wetter years may hold water continuously for a year or more. Others have water only during years of high rainfall, and some probably do not become flooded except with the passage of hurricanes. The fish populations of ditches and seasonal ponds are ephemeral and usually limited to such species as Gambusia affinis, Heterandria formosa, Fundulus cingulatus, and the exotics Clarias batrachus and Hoplosternum littorale, that are capable of dispersing through shallow water and of reproducing rapidly. However, during prolonged high water, seasonal ponds remote from permanent water bodies may become populated with various sunfishes, gars, bowfins, and other species typical of more permanent water bodies. The source of these populations is probably Lake Annie, with fishes moving from the lake through flooded ditches bordering the railroad to some of the seasonal ponds in the intra-ridge valley and then dispersing to other ponds through natural connections or shallow ditches dug many years ago.

Literature Cited

Species List  Navigation | Top

Order Lepisosteiformes  Navigation | Top

Family Lepisosteidae - gars

• Florida gar Lepisosteus platyrhincus -- Common in Lake Annie; several  in a drying pool of a seasonal pond in Tract 18 in January 1975.

Order Amiiformes  Navigation | Top

Family Amiidae - bowfin

• Bowfin Amia calva -- Common in Lake Annie; one adult and numerous juveniles collected in a drying pool of a seasonal pond in Tract 18 in January 1975.

Order Cypriniformes   Navigation | Top

Family Cyprinidae - carps and minnows

• Coastal shiner Notropis petersoni -- Apparently rare in Lake Annie; one collection of three specimens in Lake Annie outlet in 1967. Not included in Wolfe's (1988) key to fishes of Lake Annie.
• Golden shiner Notemigonus crysoleucas -- Common in Lake Annie. Reported by Werner et al. (1978) to rank fourth among species in the littoral zone in abundance and biomass (7%). This species is widely used as a bait minnow ("Missouri minnow") in Florida and may have been introduced to Lake Annie.

Family Catastomidae - suckers

• Lake chubsucker Erimyzon sucetta -- Abundant in Lake Annie, where individuals can usually be seen from the dock; many in drying pool of a seasonal pond in Tract 18 in January 1975. In the study by Werner et al. (1978), this species ranked third in contribution (9%) to fish biomass in the littoral zone of the lake.

Order Siluriformes   Navigation | Top

Family Ictaluridae - North American catfishes

• Yellow bullhead Ameiurus natalis -- Uncommon in Lake Annie and ditches. One collected in the water hole in Tract 18 and two in a drying pool of seasonal pond in Tract 18 in January 1975.
• Brown bullhead Ameiurus nebulosus -- Common in Lake Annie.
• Tadpole madtom Noturus gyrinus -- Fairly common in Lake Annie.

Family Clariidae - labyrinth catfishes

• Walking catfish Clarias batrachus -- Introduced. The first record from the Station was a specimen collected in the ditch in the Main Grounds area in January 1980. There was a possible sighting at the same site in July 1979. Abundant remains of walking catfish from the feeding of wading birds, raccoons, and otters were observed around drying Burmania Pond (Tract 31, No. 13) in February 1984. A specimen was collected in Lake Annie in June 1986.

Family Callichthyidae - armored catfishes

• Brown hoplo Hoplosternum littorale -- Introduced. The first record from the Station was a specimen collected in shallow floodwaters immediately behind Liatris (4) Cottage in the Main Grounds area in September 2004. A specimen was collected from the adjacent Reserve of Archbold Expeditions in 2003.

Order Esociformes  Navigation | Top

Family Esocidae - pikes

• Chain pickerel Esox niger -- Fairly common in Lake Annie.

Order Atheriniformes  Navigation | Top

Family Atherinopsidae - silversides

• Brook silverside Labidesthes sicculus -- Abundant in surface waters of Lake Annie.

Order Cyprinodontiformes Navigation | Top

Family Fundulidae - topminnows

• Golden topminnow Fundulus chrysotus -- Common in Lake Annie; uncommon in ditches.
• Banded topminnow Fundulus cingulatus -- Abundant in railroad ditch, Sinkhole Pond, and seasonal ponds. Next to Gambusia, the most abundant species on Station property, exclusive of Lake Annie.
• Bayou topminnow Fundulus notti -- Listed as F. lineolatus (Lined Topminnow) by Lee et al. (1980). Abundant in Lake Annie.

Family Poeciliidae - livebearers

• Mosquitofish Gambusia affinis -- The most ubiquitous and abundant fish species of the Station, occurring in Lake Annie, ditches, and seasonal ponds.
• Least killifish Heterandria formosa -- Common in littoral zone of Lake Annie; uncommon in ditches.

Order Perciformes   Navigation | Top

Family Centrarchidae - sunfishes

• Bluespotted sunfish Enneacanthus gloriosus -- Uncommon in Lake Annie; one collected in drying pool of a seasonal pond in Tract 18 in January 1975.
• Warmouth Lepomis gulosus -- Common in Lake Annie; uncommon in seasonal ponds.
• Bluegill Lepomis macrochirus -- Abundant in Lake Annie, usually visible from dock; numerous in drying pool of a seasonal pond in Tract 18 in January 1975. Comprised 46 percent of the biomass of fishes in the littoral zone of Lake Annie in censuses by Werner et al. (1978).
• Dollar sunfish Lepomis marginatus  -- Common in Lake Annie.
• Redear sunfish Lepomis microlophus -- Uncommon in Lake Annie.
• Largemouth bass Micropterus salmoides -- Abundant in Lake Annie, usually visible from dock; numerous small individuals in drying pool of seasonal pond in Tract 18 in January 1975. Represented 35 percent of the fish community biomass in the littoral zone of Lake Annie (Werner et al. 1978).
• Black crappie Pomoxis nigromaculatus -- Uncommon in Lake Annie.

Family Percidae - perches

• Swamp darter Etheostoma fusiforme -- Common in Lake Annie in shallow water around edge.

Family Elassomatidae - pygmy sunfishes

• Everglades pygmy sunfish Elassoma evergladei -- Uncommon in Lake Annie outlet; abundant in Sinkhole Pond in Tract 19 and Water Hole in Tract 18; common in seasonal ponds; and occasional in ditches.

Navigation | Top

Literature Cited    Top

Keller, A. E. 1976. The effects of lake physico-chemical characteristics on the growth rates and condition factors of largemouth bass in eight Florida lakes. Visiting Investigator Rept., Archbold Biological Station. 24 pp.

Layne, J. N. 1979. Natural features of the Lake Annie Tract, Highlands County, Florida. Archbold Biological Station. 64 pp. PDF file

Lee, D. S., C. R. Gilbert, C. H. Hocutt, R. E. Jenkins, D. E. McAllister, and J. R. Stauffer, Jr. 1980 et seq. Atlas of North American freshwater fishes. North Carolina State Mus. Nat. Hist., Raleigh. 854 pp.

Nelson, J.S., E.J. Crossman, H. Espinosa-Pérez, L.T. Findley, C.R. Gilbert, R.N. Lea, and J.D. Williams. 2004. Common and scientific names of fishes from the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Amer. Fish. Soc. Spec. Publ. No. 29:1-386.

Nester, R. D. 1976. A survey of the fishes of Lake Annie, Highlands County, Florida. Visiting Investigator Rept., Archbold Biological Station. 9 pp.

Werner, E. E., D. J. Hall, and M. D. Werner. 1978. Littoral zone fish communities of two Florida lakes and a comparison with Michigan lakes. Env. Biol. Fish. 3:163-172.

Wolfe, J. L. 1988. Key to the fishes of Lake Annie. MS. 5 pp.

Home | Top | Index | Introduction

Layne, J.N., 1989, revised September 1991, December 1999, corrections 29 July 2002. Nomenclature revised October 2004
© Archbold Biological Station, 30 November 2000.
Webmaster: Fred Lohrer send e-mail