During
field work conducted on May 20th at the Redfish Rocks site we
collected several hundred baby fish, mainly cabezon, from our SMURF sampling
devices. Every two weeks throughout the summer we are collecting baby fish
samples from our SMURF devices set out at the Redfish Rocks and Otter Rock sites. This is part of a collaborative research study led by
Oregon State University (OSU), to learn more about juvenile fishes. Scientists
refer to these new fish settlers as recruits, since they are “recruiting” to
the bottom for the first time.
One
of the difficulties in studying recruits is it’s hard to identify one species
from another. A baby fish can have different colors and body shape compared to its
adult counterpart. For example, black rockfish and blue rockfish recruits are
virtually identical while the adults have clearer differences in coloration. Think
about how tough it is to match people you don’t know to a stack of baby photos from
30 years ago! To identify these recruits, scientists from OSU are focusing on
key characteristics on the fins, mouth, and gills of each fish and using
genetics to confirm identification when needed.
Thanks
to Oregon Coast Aquarium divers, Erin and Doug, for collecting the samples and to
Tom for the shoreside help processing these fish at the OSU Port Orford Field
station. This week we’ll again be collecting baby fish samples at both Otter
Rock and Redfish Rocks.
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