Fish Watching: An Outdoor Guide to Freshwater FishesWho hasn't stopped along the banks of a stream to look for fish? Anyone who wants to enjoy fish in their own world will want this lavishly illustrated guide to a new kind of nature study. An expert whose passionate interest in fish is contagious, C. Lavett Smith is promoting a whole new outdoor pastime - fish watching. Designed to be used outside, the book opens with tips on where, when, and how to find and watch fishes in their natural habitats. Smith starts with hints for the beginner, and comments on equipment and ways of taking notes. He describes the major types of running and still waters, along with the kinds of fishes to be found in each. Nearly 200 drawings and photographs, thirty-six in color, illustrate the habitats and the fishes a watcher may see, and there are general accounts of the major groups of fishes found in the fresh waters of the United States and Canada. The central theme of the book is natural history: habitat selection, food and feeding habits, defense adaptations, and reproductive mechanisms. Smith describes habitats ranging from tiny headwater creeks to large rivers and estuaries. Food habits include straining plankton, cropping small insects, and feeding on other animals. He points out the reproductive specializations that watchers may often see - the development of special, sometimes brilliant breeding colors, the construction of nests, courtship rituals, and in a few cases parental care of the young. Vignettes describing Smith's adventures in the field add a special flavor to a charming book that will appeal to readers of all ages - including those who fish. |
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adipose dorsal fin anal fin anglers aquatic areas Base-level streams bones bony plates bottom bowfin branch breeding brook trout bullhead carp catfish caudal characteristic color common shiner creek chub dace dorsal fin eels eggs estuaries feeding fin spines fish watcher fishery flow fresh water Freshwater Fishes gars genus gill cover gravel groups habitat headwater streams Iowa darter killifishes large lakes large rivers live longnose look lower jaw male marshy meanders MICROHABITATS mid-reach streams minnows mooneye mouth mudminnow nests North America northern open waters organisms ostariophysans oxygen paddlefish pectoral fins pelvic fins pickerel pike pirate perch plants ponds pools populations predators rays riffles rocks rocky headwater salmon sand scales scientific names sculpins sea lampreys shad shallow shore shoreline smallmouth bass snout sometimes spawn species spring standing water sticklebacks striped suckers sunfish surface Swamps teeth trout-perch upstream vegetation vertebrates walleye watch weedy wetlands white bass yellow perch