150 Fishes to Celebrate 150 Years
This list is still in progress and being added to weekly. Check back again soon!
150 Fishes to Celebrate 150 Years
In 2020, the American Fisheries Society will celebrate its 150th Anniversary. As part of the celebration, the Society will be calling attention to 150 fishes. We solicited nominations of fishes for the list by the Society’s membership.
The 150 Fishes list is a celebration of the biodiversity of freshwater and marine fishes of North America. These fishes will help tell the story of fish and fisheries of the continent. They may illustrate unique life histories, beauty, conservation issues, and challenges of managing and conserving these animals and their habitats. These fishes represent our native biodiversity, but also illustrates how invasives and our own human nature have had impacts on our aquatic resources. Hence, this list will primarily focus on native species but may include non-natives when they tell a compelling fisheries story. From the stories of these fishes, the Society and the public can learn to better appreciate these amazing natural resources and be challenged to ensure that future generations will be able to experience these fishes in their native settings.
Nomination Process
Fish nominations are now closed.
Circulation Process
The 150 Fishes list will reside at the 150th Anniversary Website, information about individual fish from the list will be circulated through various social media platforms throughout the year.
This list is meant to be a fun for members and informative for the public. It is unlikely we will be able to include all nominations. We acknowledge that every fish has a story. There may be opportunities to discuss all the nominated fishes in the future.
FULL LIST OF NOMINATED FISH
| Catchy Title | Older than trees? |
|---|---|
| Common Name of Fish | Pacific Lamprey |
| Scientific Name of Fish | Entosphenus tridentatus |
| Image of Fish | |
| Image Caption and Credit | Pacific Lamprey can be seen around Bonneville Dam. Credit: Nathan McClain & Sean Tackely |
| Description of Why This Fish Is Important/Interesting | The Pacific Lamprey is a eel like fish native to the Pacific coast and is important to indigenous communities as a source of food and religious ceremony. Due to its parasitic nature, as an adult it feeds on the fluids of other fish and even marine mammals, it has been maligned by European settlers who are focused on salmon. However the Pacific Lamprey has been around much longer than salmon and we are still learning the basics of their life history. They have been found in the fossil record as far back as 450 million years - making them older than trees! As their number have diminished, tribes on the Columbia River are working to help move lamprey around dams that block them from accessing spawning habitat. |
| Website or Journal Article for More Information | https://www.fws.gov/pacificlamprey/mainpage.cfm |
| Your Name | Nathan McClain |
