NESA Species Hunt 2013

[Thunderpants]

Cuckoo Wrasse are much leaner in the body than Ballans.....

Female Cuckoo Wrasse

Male Cuckoo Wrasse

They require deep water too was it a deep water location?

 

[finding nemo]

Yes deep water mike

 

[finding nemo]

Im now convinced it is actually a ballan


fishyfishy: Fish Identification, Wrasse.

 

[Thunderpants]

Yes I agree.

Table updated.

 

[Wee Ver]

1 more for me pollock

 

[Juliogeordio]

Got to agree that's a ballen wrasse aswell... nice addition to your species hunt, well done

 

[Geordie-UK]

Long Spined Sea Scorpion

Tompot Blenny

 

[Geordie-UK]

5 Bearded Rockling

Common Dragonet

Cod

 

[Thunderpants]

Well done lads, table updated.

Nice fishing Geordie-UK that puts you in third place.

 

[Thunderpants]

Bloody Rocklings Again

Bloody Rocklings Again

OK lads, the vote was for mutiple species of rocklings so we need to review the ones currently labelled as Three Beards as they are clearly not that. Just because a rockling only shows three barbels does not mean it is a 3B. 3Bs always have dark spots on a light background sometimes referred to as leopard spots like this...

None of the "3B" in the comp have these markings so they must be either 5B or shore rocklings. Shore rocklings are rare in the NE so the chances of all of them being this are remote. The colour patterns of all these fish are as expected for five bearded rocklings so it is my opinion that they are all 5Bs just with poor photos in the case of some and with stunted barbels in others. I know some of you will disagree with this so to keep the peace we can put it to the vote. Here are the pics below, please say which ones you think are shore rocklings and which are 5Bs and we will go with the majority decision as usual.

 

[Bassboyo]

Unless the captor can show 5 barbules in there photo they have to be shore rockling.

 

[finding nemo]

I was there when wee ver cought his and it deffo had 3 barbles

Shore rockling it must be

they all look alike to me so ill second the notion bass boyo has made

 

[Geordie-UK]

There are ways to tell them apart, listed at this site

LRSAC Official Website

Basically, the 3 Bearded rockling has a row of white hairs in its indent behind its head, shore rockling have the hairs, but brown not white,

So pics will have to show the white hairs, or again, it is up to the submitter to take a clear and concise image to make ID clear.

I see no 3 Bearded rockling on any submitted pic in this thread according to the description on the Lymeregissac site

 

[lambtonworm]

There are ways to tell them apart, listed at this site

LRSAC Official Website

Basically, the 3 Bearded rockling has a row of white hairs in its indent behind its head, shore rockling have the hairs, but brown not white,

So pics will have to show the white hairs, or again, it is up to the submitter to take a clear and concise image to make ID clear.

I see no 3 Bearded rockling on any submitted pic in this thread according to the description on the Lymeregissac site

I Give my opinion to Mike a while back that there had been no 3 beards entered and most if not all shore are dubious,In my opinion most are 5 beard and captors are only counting the main prominent barbels where a lot of the 5's have 2 small barbels often laying flat above the nasal flaps that are barely noticable at times ..

 

[Thunderpants]

OK lads there is always going to be a difference in opinions on the identity of rockling species but a decision needs to be made so we can carry on with the hunt. When I started this species hunt the whole point was to have fun catching as many species as possible and all this "debating" is taking the fun out of it. That stops now. As the one running the hunt the final decision is mine and I have made a decision. Of course you can't please all the people all the time and whatever I decide there will always be someone who does not agree but at the end of the day if you do not like the way I am running the hunt then you do not have to take part. My decision is this.....

1. Three bearded rocklings are a rare catch in our area and always have the characteristic colour pattern of dark spots on a light background. Unless a fish shows these characteristic markings it will not be accepted as a 3B. No 3Bs have been caught so far in the hunt this year or last year.

2. Shore rocklings are rare in the north east and claimed by at least one website (Marlin) that they do not occur at all in our area MarLIN - The Marine Life Information Network . However I do not dismiss the possibility that shore rocklings could occasionally be caught in our area from time to time so if the photograph submitted clearly shows the necessary identifying features it will be accepted i.e. only three barbels (no stubby barbels , stumps or lumps that could be a 5B) and either (i) brown or drab colouring or (ii) light spots on a dark background.

3. Five bearded rocklings are clearly the common species in our area. I have caught a lot of rocklings with five barbels showing many different colour and pattern variations and all the suspect fish are consistent with these colour patterns. Some of those I have caught show varying sized barbels sometimes just stumps. Whether this is due to being poorly formed or lost through damage is anybodies guess but it is a fact that they are sometimes this way. So unless the evidence given clearly shows one of the other species this will be the default.

OK. So this is the new rule and I have added it to the rules in the first post... To claim a shore rockling or three bearded rockling you must provide a clear photograph showing it's characteristic features. Where a photograph is blurred or taken from an angle where the identity is unclear then it will be assumed to be the commoner species i.e. a five bearded rockling.

So following this new rule the table will be updated as follows :-

None of the fish currently labelled as "3B" show the characteristic markings of a 3B. None of them have clear photographs showing they are shore rocklings not 5B. Therefore all fish will be re-labelled as the default species 5B. Wee Ver, Codfather145 and Toonboymc your scores remain unchanged. Myself, Aquaholic, Mad Rob, Lumpsucker and John Findley already have a 5B so we all lose one point.


I will update the table tonight. For those of you still taking part let's carry on with the hunt

 

[Geordie-UK]

Sorry, but I've caught over 10 shore rockling in the last 3 weeks, all on roker pier, shore rockling aren't rare, but 3 bearded are, as I have never caught one, I have to admit, before this issue cropped up, I wasn't even aware there was a shore rockling.

To quote from the Marlin site

Recorded Distribution in Britain and Ireland

Recorded from southwest and northeast England, north Wales and west Ireland but is probably distributed all around Britain and Ireland.

I'm also at a loss as to how there can be any confusion about the shore rockling and 5 bearded, with the 5 bearded, there are two extra whiskers right on the top lip in the middle, this talk of stumps etc baffles me, because there would have to be an awful lot of 5 bearded rockling losing two whiskers which just happen to be the ones on the middle top lip....

As for clear photo's, I endeavour to supply good quality pics, and checking my submission for shore rockling, its crystal clear, so do we get to resubmit if they are clear?

 

[Geordie-UK]

Turbot

btw, that is an A4 sheet, just under 2lb, and cooking it now

 

[John findley]

Sand eel for me plz dont know if its greater or lesser?

 

[Geordie-UK]

Its a greater sand eel

 

[Thunderpants]

To quote from the Marlin site

Recorded Distribution in Britain and Ireland

Recorded from southwest and northeast England, north Wales and west Ireland but is probably distributed all around Britain and Ireland.

This is the distribution map from the Marlin site. It shows no recorded shore rocklings in our area. The one they refer to as the "north east" must be the spot near Scarborough i.e. north yorkshire.

do we get to resubmit if they are clear?

You do not need to re-submit as it is only the ones labelled as 3B that have been reviewed and you did not have one of those. The shore rockling you have remains unchanged. People can re-submit if they want and if they can provide clear pictures where there is no doubt it is a shore rockling then they will of course be accepted as such.


For anyone sumbmitting future rockling pics please could you take two photos - one of the whole fish and one close up on the head showing the barbels. This will greatly help with the identification. If the barbels are lying flat against the body they can be made to stand up for the photo by gently running your finger across the top of the head front to back.