The Official Blog of Alabama Water Watch
By: Rachel McGuire
Alabama has approximately 57 miles of Gulf Coast beachfront and just over 600 miles of estuary and tidal coastline, providing plenty of opportunities for marine sportfishing. A hotspot for saltwater fishing is in Gulf Shores & Orange Beach that is known as the “Red Snapper capital of the World.” Fort Morgan is known for its premiere redfish fishery.
Continue reading “Marine Sportfish”by: Rachel McGuire
Alabama is known for its freshwater sportfishing scene. Sportfish, otherwise known as game species, are types of fish that are prized by anglers for the sport, and not exclusively for consumption.
Alabama sportfish can be divided into the following major groups: black bass, bream (or sunfish), crappie, temperate bass, pickerel, perch, and trout.
by: Rachel McGuire
Alabama is home to 49 species of snakes, 12 of which are considered aquatic. Snakes are legless, carnivorous reptiles covered in overlapping scales. While most snakes lay eggs, the aquatic snakes of Alabama are viviparous, meaning they give birth to live young. Snakes also shed their outer layer of skin periodically as they grow. Sometimes you can find the snake shed off a trail, near a creek, or simply on the forest floor.
Snakes may instill fear in many people; however, it is important to remember they are important members of our native wildlife community and serve a function to our precious ecosystems. When encountering a wild snake, be sure to give space, respect, and appreciation.
Continue reading “Aquatic Snakes & Gators”The fourth installment of our 12 Months of Aquatic Critters Blog Series is: freshwater turtles! Alabama is home to 31 species of freshwater turtles. That’s more than any other state!
Turtles have roamed the Earth for 220 million years. This diverse, but easily recognizable, group of reptiles has several common traits. All turtle species : 1) have a bony or leathery shell 2) have ribs fused to their shell and specialized neck muscles to ventilate their lungs 3) lack teeth and instead have a bony beak like modern birds and 4) are oviparous (meaning they lay eggs).
In all Alabama turtle species, the females dig a nest cavity with their hind feet. Turtles are long-lived creatures, with many species living 60-80 years or more. Females never lose their fertility, despite their longevity. Sexual dimorphism, or noticeable physical differences between males and females, is present in most turtle species. In fact, it is common for the females to grow larger than the males.
Humans have a long history of using turtles as a food source and, more recently, exploit turtles for the pet trade and hobby collections. Turtles win hearts regularly with their sheepish, yet oftentimes stately appearance. Just look at this face:
Read on for more facts about some of the turtle species that call Alabama home:
Continue reading “Freshwater Turtles”
Written by: Rachel McGuire
Our third installment of the 12 Months of Aquatic Critters blog series is Aquatic Amphibians! Amphibians are small vertebrates that need water or a moist environment to survive. This group of critters breathes and absorbs water through thin skin. The vast majority of amphibian larvae are aquatic and undergo metamorphosis (there are several forms!) to become terrestrial, semi-terrestrial, or aquatic adults.
Alabama Water Watch will be celebrating native aquatic critters each month throughout the year of 2023! From the vastly underrated freshwater snails to the popular and stately sea turtles, we will take you on a journey through the various aquatic amphibians, fishes, insects, mammals, mollusks, and reptiles, that call Alabama home.
HERE’S THE SCHEDULE:
January – Caddisflies and EPT Friends
February – Darters
March – Aquatic Amphibians
April – Freshwater Turtles
May – Snakes & Gators
June – Freshwater Sportfish
July – Marine Sportfish
August – Freshwater Mussels
September – Saltwater Turtles
October – Freshwater Snails
November – Crayfish
December – Aquatic Mammals
Do you have photos or videos of darters of aquatic wildlife in Alabama? If so, share them with us using the AWW Photo/Video Submission form.
Our second installation of the 12 Months of Aquatic Critters blog series features the diverse group of freshwater fishes known as darters!
Darters are a group of small, slender freshwater fish in the family Percidae (Perch family) that are native to eastern North America. Most live near the bottom of clear streams and “dart” quickly when disturbed or when feeding. Darters eat small aquatic insects (i.e. the critters highlighted in Caddisflies and EPT Friends), worms, and small crustaceans. Some darters are exceptionally showy with bright colors and patterns that rival most tropical fish available at your local pet shop! During the breeding season, male colors become even brighter, sometimes, even expanding to additional parts of the body. For most darters in Alabama, spawning season occurs from early spring to early summer.
There are a total of 80 species of Darters found in Alabama. Of those, several species are federally endangered (Boulder Darter, Rush Darter, Vermillion Darter, and Watercress Darter) or federally threatened (Goldline Darter, Slackwater Darter, and Trispot Darter) under the Endangered Species Act. Furthermore, there are 27 darters on the 2015 Alabama State Wildlife Action Plan‘s Species of Greatest Conservation Need (SGCN) List and one species, the Lipstick Darter, is on the Watch List for the SGCN.
We’ll introduce you to some of the rarer species below.
Those of you familiar with the Alabama Water Watch program may not be surprised that the first article of the 12 Months of Aquatic Critters blog series features the critter on our logo: the caddisfly!
Caddisflies are a large group of insects with an aquatic larval stage. There are around 1,500 species of caddisfly in North America alone and over 14,000 species worldwide. Caddisflies are an important food source for many freshwater fish. In fact, both larval and adult caddisflies are often imitated as lures in fly fishing. Caddisflies can be found in a variety of colors including gray, brown, purplish brown, yellowish tan, and green. These critters have a low tolerance for water pollution and are typically found in higher quality sites with medium to fast-moving water.