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 | Lumpus? You Barely Know Us! |
|---|---|
| Common Name of Fish | Lumpfish |
| Scientific Name of Fish | Cyclopterus lumpus |
| Image of Fish |  |
| Image Caption and Credit | Lumpfish, photo credit: Tim Briggs, NH Sea Grant |
| Description of Why This Fish Is Important/Interesting | The lumpfish (Cyclopterus lumpus) makes its home in the brisk North Atlantic. With its modified pelvic fins, it keeps itself suctioned on to rocks, seaweed, or any other structure. This comes in handy for a fish with no swim bladder, and a less-than hydrodynamic form. Northern Nations land this teleost for its roe, which you might find in your grocery store as "lumpfish caviar." The lumpfish has recently gained fame for its cleanerfish ability as a biological delouser; lumpfish will feed on sea lice which infect salmonids. This has made them quite a popular cage-mate for Atlantic salmon in commercial operations – resulting in an aquaculture boom to provide millions of lumpfish for an environmentally-friendly way of mitigating the damage and cost caused by sea lice. |
| Website or Journal Article for More Information | https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/raq.12194 |
| Your Name | Michael Doherty |