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What To Collect On The Coast (1 Viewer)

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aggie4231 said:
almost a waste of time. water temp is usually in the lower 70's to upper 60's. I dont know about you, but i wouldnt want to be treading that cold of water.

Thanks Aggie.
 

Pangio

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Thought y'all might wanna know, you can collect mangrove pods from the East side of Galveston, just past East Beah right next to the ship channel. Just be sure to go right after a storm.
 

BadFish

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black or red mangroves? I would assume black, but would be interested if you have seen some red out there recently.
 
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I'm assuming you mean East Beach?

Follow I-45 all the way into Galveston and just keep going straight. It turns into Broadway at the first red light.

When you finally get to the seawall, Stewart Beach will be straight ahead. Turn left at the Seawall and go all the way down until you hit East Beach. You can't miss it.

Then take the last right before the end of the Seawall and that road will take you to East Beach. You will see the ship channel on your left.
 

Pangio

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Actually, I found mine on shore where the island dead-ends. Just go down to that little beach below the baricade and walk north. They should be everywhere on the sand.

-Colby
 

BadFish

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I went to check a while ago and there are only black mangrove pods out on East Beach. The black mangrove is not as sensitive to extreme conditions (temp & salinity) but they do not look too good in tanks. They are about the opposite of red mangroves with the characteristic roots. Black mangroves have roots that spread under ground and sprout up much like Cypress trees. You can tell the difference in propagules very easily, black mangroves look like a giant lima bean while the red mangrove looks like a green stick about 3 to 6 inches long. The propagules are unique in that they actually germinate and will start to grow while on the parent. So if you find the red mangrove you stand a good chance of getting a propagule off of it. Justin down in Port A is lucky, he can actually find red mangroves down there. Up here in the Galveston area is another story, red mangroves are more sensitive to cold temps and low salinities. I have not seen a mature red mangrove in the Galveston area. I just thought this might clear some things up for people before they go down to Galveston to get a black mangrove when they are expecting red mangroves you see in most tanks.
 
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in attempting to catch these items do you just swipe the net in the water or are there special techniques?
 
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where do you get a permit or is this permit just a fishing license?
 

blackblaze11

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the snails that constantly return to the top or stay at the water line are actually considered terrestrial snails are found in the marsh, usually in the spartina grass. The zebra striped on is the zebra periwinkle; pretty little snail, but doesn't do a very good job cleaning a tank. Sane nets are work really well for collecting if you have 2 people, especially in the shallows near eastbeach in galveston; i don't know where you could buy one, but i'm sure a makeshit one with broomstick handles and fine netting stratched between would work really well. Awesome thread, i can't wait to get out to Galveston now! :D
 

haze_9

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Collecting trip

After reading all this I am very eager to try it out! Has there been any talk of another collecting trip?
 
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FireEater

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Someone on here is always going out collecting in the Summer months. Just keep an eye out for the threads that will be made.

Also, check the Events Section for the Port A trip coming up.
 
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I'm coming down for the July Port A. Trip....can't wait! This thread is very informative..especially now that the images at the beginning are viewable again (got broken links for a while).

When collecting snails and such, does anybody use masks and snorkels, or is it all walking and scooping? I'm trying to figure out what equipment I need to buy for the trip. Thanks!
 

klcunningham

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great finds..... some general species corrections

These are all great finds for our tanks. I have had many of them several times over in the last two years. My favorite recommeded additions to reef tanks are the Porcelain Crabs. They make easy additions that are interesting to watch feed with their fan appendages.

The decorator crab is actually one of two species of local spider crabs either the longnose spider or the portly spider crab. They are extremely easy to keep and feed. Many times they go unnoticed in trawl catches because they cover themselves with so much algae you just assume they are until the algae crawls across the bottom of the cooler. Another crab which is not listed is the pink pursecrab which is also an interesting but less common find as it stays mainly offshore.

The sargassum nudibrachs are great finds too but extermely difficult to keep alive over an extended period since their primary food source are hydroids (a leaf like anemone/jelly that grows on the sargassum they are found on).

In addition to the two species of sargassum shrimp you can also find spotted swimming and/or sargassum crabs. Both are not reef safe. If you sift through enough sargassum you can also find juvenile tripletails (fish) and sea horses (not sure of species as I've only found a few).

The sargassum fish are great but I haven't seen one last more than a year in captivity thus far.

The pistol shrimp or Gulf snapping shrimp is only interesting before you put it in the tank. Once inside it digs a hole and you never see it again. I only see it a split second when I put a piece of shrimp in front of its burrow.

The snails shown are called Marsh Periwinkles. You can find them everywhere on the dike and in the spartina grass marshes. They do crawl out of the tank so avoid these. Also avoid welks and oyster drills. Both are predatory and will kill other snails, clams, and oysters.

The local hermits are the striped hermit (C. vittatus). Only use these in fish only systems. I catch these small and release them when they get bigger. I've even gone to wal-mart to buy a random bag of shells and use c-clamps to crack the original hermit shells to get them to occupy pretty shells.

The other two less common hermits are the flat-claw hermit (shown) and the long-wrist hermit. I can't say how safe these are for reefs but I wouldn't recommend it.

The rock crab shown is actually a juvenile stone crab, the same one we harvest and eat commercially. There are also similar species of mud crabs (P. simpsoni is one). I don't really recommend these for any tank as they are extremely strong and can topple rocks over easily. Stone crabs grow extremely fast. The ones I did keep over extended periods of time (also with juvenile blue crabs), I cut their top claw joint after each molt, to keep them from killing. I simple pieces of shrimp.

The rock anemones are interesting and are extremely abundant along any jetty (especially the dike). They are great for first timers but will kill any unsuspecting organism that passes by. I have lost many fish, shrimp, and crabs to these guys. Best to house with larger organisms that it can't take down. In one instance I had once that started to ingest a hermit but fortunately spit it back out after about 10 minutes.

As far as the fish pictured go, the pipefish is the most difficult to keep and acclimate to tank life. The goby pictured is a called the Naked Goby and is probably the best and seems to be reef safe. The puffer shown (S. parvus) is very common in galveston bay. A great fish, probably my favorite. Another prized local puffer is the striped burrfish (awesome!!!) but uncommon. I found a 1.5 incher at a baitcamp but lost him a week later due to trawl damage. I was peeved since he had already started to eat.

The so called damselfish is not so. This is a juvenile species of the jackfish camily that I can't recall since I'm not at the office. I want to say a bluntnose jack but I'm not sure. It is definitely not a damselfish.

Another great fish for FOWLR tanks are juvenile spadefish. They are very people friendly and spend most of their time swimming back and forth at the front of the tank.

Lookdowns and moon fish are great too, but hard to keep alive for transport and even harder to acclimate to tank life. My success rate is roughly 1 stable tank specimen for every 10 caught.

There also various species of flounders that people never see. They are great too, but don't house them with hermits. The soles will not come up to feed and you virtually have to place it right in front of them to eat.

Beware the local blenny (crested blenny, I think) and toad fish found in many of the derelict crab trabs. The toad fish swallows fish whole and the blenny (while extremly cute and playful) fin nips so much that it ruined two of my fish so badly that they couldn't swim. If you do keep these, do not house together or they will fight constantly.

There are so many more fish and collection organisms to add but my time is exhausted. If you have any questions about more local species just contact me. I work at the local Texas Parks & Wildlife Field Office in Dickinson and have spent many long hours sampling the bay system with many more hours of experimentation and frustration with wild caught specimens. My proudest of which was a spotted batfish (the bottom walking kind with angler type nose); caught two in one day, that rarely come along (none for the past 8 years). One refused to eat and eventually died. The other made it through tank acclimation but died to a power failure.

Local collecting really is fulfilling. You can even scower the local bait camp tanks for odd stuff if you don't have a boat. You can collect your own live rock at the dyke. I even have a spot where I dumped rock 8 months ago for it to seed. The local live rock is great for FOWLR tanks but can cary microscopic juvenile stone/mud crabs. Just pick them out as you see them.
 
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