Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - November/December 2022 - 42
LOST FISHES OF
THE COASTAL PLAIN
by Rob Criswell
photos by the author
O
nce upon a time, the lower Delaware River and the
tidal portion of its tributaries hosted unspoiled pools,
marshes, swamps, and ponds filled with organic muck,
sand, dead trees and branches, and dense concentrations of
aquatic plants. These small ecosystems, fueled by vegetation and
invertebrate animals, provided the perfect habitat for a group
of small, sedentary fishes content to live their lives in relatively
competition-free, if somewhat claustrophobic, conditions.
Five species that required these exact conditions occurred in
this narrow, lowland strip and nowhere else in Pennsylvania.
They are long gone, victims of the development of the
Philadelphia region, and have not been seen here since 1920.
These species still occur on the New Jersey side of the Delaware
River, where the Coastal Plain is much more extensive.
Three are sunfishes-the Banded Sunfish, Enneacanthus
obesus, and Blackbanded Sunfish, Enneacanthus chaetodon,
are jewel-like and striking in appearance. The former displays
iridescent purple, gold, and greenish flecks over a greenish-yellow
42
Pennsylvania Angler & Boater
background suffused with six to eight dark bars. The latter sports
five or more bold, black vertical bars over a silvery background,
somewhat reminiscent of a freshwater angelfish.
The Banded Sunfish and Blackbanded Sunfish are often
found together in watery jungles. In 1883, the naturalist C.C.
Abbott wrote that " in such localities, where often the weeds are
so luxuriant that a scoop net cannot be drawn, I have found that
hundreds of these fishes were passing what I think must be a
most monotonous existence. In some places, locomotion must
be rather a scramble among the water weeds, than a comfortable
swim. " These diminutive (less than 4 inches in length) introverts
are content to " graze " on microcrustaceans and insect larvae they
pluck from the surfaces of submerged plants and debris.
The Mud Sunfish, Acantharchus pomotis, is another story. It
grows to 9 inches and is a voracious predator. It lurks unnoticed in
the mud, muck, and dense vegetation by day but rises from its lair
at night and glides slowly through the water patrolling for prey. It
will quickly devour a quarry fully half its size or larger with little
effort and no remorse. No wonder its name is " mud. "
Another Coastal Plain obligate, the Pirate Perch, Aphredoderus
sayanus, was described to science in 1824 based on specimens
collected in southeastern Pennsylvania. It is an anatomical
wonder with which few fish can compare. This drab, stocky
mudlover starts life with all its parts in the normal places, but its
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Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - November/December 2022
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - November/December 2022
Contents
Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - November/December 2022 - Cover1
Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - November/December 2022 - Cover2
Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - November/December 2022 - Contents
Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - November/December 2022 - 4
Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - November/December 2022 - 5
Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - November/December 2022 - 6
Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - November/December 2022 - 7
Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - November/December 2022 - 8
Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - November/December 2022 - 9
Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - November/December 2022 - 10
Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - November/December 2022 - 11
Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - November/December 2022 - 12
Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - November/December 2022 - 13
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Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - November/December 2022 - 15
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Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - November/December 2022 - 41
Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - November/December 2022 - 42
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Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - November/December 2022 - Cover3
Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - November/December 2022 - Cover4
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