Identify wild fish

[outofwater3]

Hi everyone,

There's a stream nearby which fills up when it rains, then it goes down and small puddles remain. Been here for 2 years now and for the first time saw a fish there. A puddle that's getting smaller by the day trapped it. Saw it 2 days ago, returned rltoday and confirmed it was trapped there. Unless it rains A LOY in the coming days, that puddle will dry up.

Anywho, take a look at this pic, what do you think it is?

Ai clankers have gone from wrymouth, to American eel, to banded killifish, to chain pickerel.

The "duck lips" make me lean towards that last option.

What say you, experts.

 

[MattW31 147]

I don't have much knowledge of NA fish. But I do know a pickerel looks like a mini pike, which is what the pics show to me

 

[Back in the fold3]

Well , this is going to take a while but I’ll page through my copy of the second edition of the “ Peterson Field Guide to Freshwater Fishes of North America North of Mexico “ by Lawrence M. Page & Brooks M. Burr .
Standby .

 

[Back in the fold3]

Most likely is Fundulus diaphanus but the snout on yours is pointier . Could you post a picture taken from the side ?

 

[outofwater3]

Most likely is Fundulus diaphanus but the snout on yours is pointier . Could you post a picture taken from the side ?

I was kinda hoping it was that too, (which after I googled it I found out is the killifish ) but after further searches I've concluded it is a type of pickerel, specifically what most sources I found call American pickerel, or grass pickerel.

The stream I mentioned originally cuts across a sort of marshy preservation land, so there are mini ponds, streams and puddles all around. Last year I saw two beaver kits in one of these mini ponds, which does not run dry at all.

I'll take this fish to it tomorrow.

 

[GaryE29]

It's a young member of the broader pike family. To get the species, check local distributions, but a pickerel in a pickle seems likely. I'd move the poor guy asap. It'll dry up or a bird will spot him.

 

[outofwater3]

Godspeed, may he eat as many mosquito larvae as he can possibly get