Bowfin Ancient fish right?

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Gator;4697657; said:
Just curious but why aren't Bowfin listed here under Ancient fish?
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Bowfin are both coldwater and a US native, so they fit better under that section. The fish listed here are all tropical (though most Lepisosteus gars are temperate) and the bowfin would be the odd fish out, I guess. There is also not really a 'bowfin following' large enough to give it its own sub-forum. The same can be said for sturgeon, the other ancient coldwater monsters.
 
Madding;4697667; said:
Bowfin are both coldwater and a US native, so they fit better under that section. The fish listed here are all tropical (though most Lepisosteus gars are temperate) and the bowfin would be the odd fish out, I guess. There is also not really a 'bowfin following' large enough to give it its own sub-forum. The same can be said for sturgeon, the other ancient coldwater monsters.
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Longnose gar inhabit the same northern range as Bowfin even up into Quebec and Ontario and down into Florida to the south and Texas to the west so you cant classify them as a cold water fish especially since there numbers are greater the further south you go. As for the popularity that could be possible as well, maybe a Mod can jump in on that part.
 
Yeah, most postings on the Bowfin are on the cold water forums for sure... my question is why there isn't a goldfish subforum on the site! lol

I enjoy my 'Fin, he tells me when to feed him, he starts chomping at the glass at me!
 
it would make sense, especially given the most recent research, to actually just lump bowfin in with the gar forum (i know, may sound like blasphemy to some gar people). the group Holostei (bowfin and gars) has recently been resurrected in the phylogenetic circles, and therefore that group would be a natural one in terms of ancient fishes in the hobby too.

it should also be noted that bowfin are not "coldwater" fish...they are temperate fish. the issue with these terms is that in the tropical fish hobby, fishes that are temperate are often synonymized with coldwater fishes. this is not true of bowfin and many other fishes. the range of bowfin is actually quite broad, ranging from canada down to tropical regions of Florida. trout are coldwater fishes, bowfin are actually considered warmwater fish by scientific categorization.

all that being said, there are good points in above posts in that they don't have quite the following of other fishes, so putting them in a "native" fish forum works, but it would be more accurate to have a "gars & bowfin" forum.--
--solomon
 
I'd be all for it. It's hard to find generate good bowfin discussion amongst bluegill and sunfish keepers. ;)
 
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