Bowfin
- Thread starter leviathon13
- Start date
yes, i have only seen the two i mentioned.... and yes, both were very drab and the one i saw in the lake just lurked near the bottom.... maybe there are some "cultured" bowfins that have accented coloration then??? or, maybe some sort of a locality type coloration??
i understand about there being more to fish and their keeping than just coloration (although am a little hard pressed thinking this is a majority opinion when quite alot of the posts here mention coloration repeatedly...!!!). a fish that interests me/causes me to want to acquire is usually a combination of color/pattern and behavior, both of which seemed lacking in the 'fins i saw...
i understand about there being more to fish and their keeping than just coloration (although am a little hard pressed thinking this is a majority opinion when quite alot of the posts here mention coloration repeatedly...!!!). a fish that interests me/causes me to want to acquire is usually a combination of color/pattern and behavior, both of which seemed lacking in the 'fins i saw...
I would say that it is a majority opinion... I guess that you havn't seen the topic on intelligent fish species. And, good coloration is often a sign of good health and in most cases that's why color is mentioned. A lot of people only buy fish for coloration, but on this "level" of fishkeeping I'd say that most of us do buy fish their personalities rather than color. And the reason that the bowfin just "lurked" was probably that it was trying to keep from being seen. To know the true personality of a fish in aquarium conditions, you need to keep it aquarium conditions. It could just be a local coloration, as all of the specimens in the same size range (36" or so) that I saw while diving in Florida were a solid dark brown, but I have seen some with brilliant orange, green, and red on them.
EDIT: Or as a more simple explanation, when it comes to color they certainly aren't cardinal tetras, but when it comes to intelligence they certainly aren't cardinal tetras either.
EDIT: Or as a more simple explanation, when it comes to color they certainly aren't cardinal tetras, but when it comes to intelligence they certainly aren't cardinal tetras either.
I was thinking about getting one in a month or so... but i've heard you have to get them in season. does anyone know if this is true? why couldn't they just pull them out of a swamp in FL?
They are usually sold small and the ones they sell are from that years hatchings.TurdBuglar said:
is the bowfin a N.American native? Are they in the perch family with the walleye and sauger? Been a fisherman for awhile don't think i've ever seen one. Pics Please
They're in family Amiidae, and their latin name is Amia calva. They're related to gars, bichirs, sturgeon, and paddlefish. I can't get any pics right now as it always stalls my computer when I try to upload or save any pics (I'm on dialup right now), lol... But you can do a google image search for "Amia calva" and it will turn up a bunch of pics of them. 
Or, you may seen one and they have a different common name in your area, so here's a list of some of their common names: Grindle, lake lawyer, dogfish, mudfish, shoepike. there are a bunch more common names, but I think that those are the commonly used aside from bowfin.
Or, you may seen one and they have a different common name in your area, so here's a list of some of their common names: Grindle, lake lawyer, dogfish, mudfish, shoepike. there are a bunch more common names, but I think that those are the commonly used aside from bowfin. Actually they are only distantly related to any other fish, they are north american natives and the only member of their family anywhere. depending on the local population they reach between 24"-43" long. They are nesting fish breeding in hollows, under stumps, etc where the male guards the nest until hatching, during this time they have been known to bite swimmers who got to close. They are good eating if from clean water and put up a good fight on light gear. here are a couple pics I found on a russian site and a taxonomy site.
