Texas Wildlife Association presents....

Kid’s Quarterly Mini-Mag!

P o s t c a r d s f r o m N a n c y . . . . By Cara Bierschwale

December 2013 Vol. 7 No. 4

Critter Connections is madepossible by a grant from the

San Antonio LivestockExposition.

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Send your name, school name,grade taught, and mailing address to

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Howdy, Friends! Do you know what I enjoy doing just as much as exploring the outdoors? I love hanging out with my family at our Nineband Family Reunions. Once a year, we all travel from our homes in different parts of Texas and spend a long weekend at a fun and relaxing place. This year, we met up at Lake Corpus Christi State Park and had grasshopper roasts, mud baths, and digging contests. My playful cousins, Nate and Neil O’Dillo, were so sure that one of them would win the contests that they had blue ribbons made before they even arrived.

Many parts of Texas have experienced continued drought conditions over the past years, but Lake Corpus Christi remains a popular vacation spot for camping, swimming, picnicking, and fishing. This 21,000-acre lake is located 35 miles northwest of the Gulf Coast city of Corpus Christi and offers a diverse ecological area with a mixture of brushland and marshes, mammals, and a variety of birds. When I arrived at my campsite near the water, I noticed that the water level of the lake had dropped because of the drought. I could see parts of the pier which are usually underwater, the boat ramp was completely exposed, and there were muddy pits along the shoreline where the effects of the drought have uncovered the soft lake bottom. Nate and Neil showed up and we talked about how nice it would be to take a mud bath before seeing the rest of our family. Just then, we caught a glimpse of movement near some shallow water. It was a fish! He looked like he was stuck in the mud and there was just enough water to cover his body.

He said, “Excuse me, young ‘dillos, but could you help out an old catfish? I was too busy looking for food and got myself stuck in this muddy hole. I just need a little push back into the deeper water before this puddle dries up.” My cousin Nate laughed and replied, “Sure we can help you, Mr. Catfish, but do you always dine in the mud? That’s gross. And why are you called CAT-fish? Do you purr?” The catfish chuckled and his long ‘whiskers’ quivered. “Why yes, I tend to find my food near the bottom of the lake. I use

these barbels to touch the mud and taste the water for tasty morsels of fish. I guess I was too focused to realize how close to shore I was. And no, I don’t purr.” “Since we are good diggers,” Neil said, “I’ll bet we can help by digging a trench behind you. That way, some of the water will fill it up and you can swim back out.” “Well fry me up and call me dinner!” said the catfish. “That’s a wonderful idea! You all should get blue ribbons for your teamwork.” Nate and Neil smiled. As for me, I was glad we were able to help the old catfish. However, I couldn’t help but wonder what

he meant by ‘touching and tasting’ the mud for food. As soon as I get back home, I am going to learn all I can about how catfish find food… and why they’re called CAT-fish.

Goodbye ‘Purr’ Now!

Nancy Nine-band

www

Photo by Paul Budd (Wikimedia)

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Last year, we provided programming for over 62,000 youth across the state through Distance Learning, Discovery Trunks, Enrichment Modules, Wildlife by Design¸ Learning Across New Dimensions in Science (L.A.N.D.S.), and Texas

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Do you and your friends have catfish sense? Catfish have poor eyesight, but their superior senses of taste and smell help in locating food while swimming through water. In this game, try to do the same and use only your senses of taste and smell to identify as many food flavors as you can.

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Taste Test GamesBy Cara Bierschwale

(Adapted from Neuroscience for Kids at http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/chtaste.html)

Blue catfish barbels by Grady Allen

Game #2: The Nose Knows Catfish have chemoreceptors along their bodies and olfactory receptors at the pits of their nostrils which allow them to “smell” chemicals in the water and detect prey. Along with our tongues, our noses and sense of smell (olfaction) are also responsible for detecting and recognizing food flavors.

Materials: -Blindfold -Jelly beans (bag of assorted flavors)-Baby food (several fruit and vegetable flavors with similar texture)

Directions: Blindfold a friend and have him hold his nose. Give him a few different jelly beans, one at a time. Can he tell the difference between the jelly bean flavors while holding his nose? Try again using small spoonfuls of baby food. Take turns trying to identify flavors with and without the use of your noses.

Game #1: Tasty BudsThe whisker-like barbels around a catfish’s mouth house taste buds and are used to search for food in murky water. The taste buds on our tongues are, of course, important for detecting the taste (gustation) of food. See if different parts of your tongue are most sensitive to different characteristics of food (salty, bitter, sour, sweet).

Materials:-Salty water -Sugary water -Lemon juice-Unsweetened cocoa with water -Toothpicks

Directions: Give each person a set of solutions and some toothpicks. Dip a toothpick into one solution and lightly touch the tongue on different areas (front, center, back, right side, left side). Repeat this procedure with each solution (it may help to drink a bit of water in between tests). Are certain areas of your tongue more sensitive to detecting the tastes of specific solutions, or are all areas equally sensitive? Indicate on a drawing of the tongue the areas that are most sensitive to the different tastes. Compare your tongue drawings with each other.

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puzzles... . .mazes... . .oh my! go ahead... . . w

ord

sear

ches

......give it a try!

Fishy Word-FindDirections: Find and circle the words listed. WORDS:

CATFISH NOCTURNALPOPULAR CHANNELGAMEFISH

Having fun fishing by Grady Allen

BLUE FLATHEADSCALELESS BULLHEADBARBELS

Name That Catf ish !Directions: Match each of the following descriptions to a catfish. Use the physical characteristics listed and clues from the article, “Texas Catfish – A Freshwater Favorite,” for help to draw one line to the correct picture, then a second line to its common name. (See the answer key on page 6.)

FRESHWATERMADTOMSWIM BLADDER GAFFTOPSAILADIPOSE FIN

1Forked tail, longer anal fin with more rays, largest freshwater sportfish in Texas

A a Tadpole Madtom

2

Small catfish, venomous glands at the base of fin spines, lives in muddy-bottomed lakes and streams

B b Flathead Catfish

3

Yellowish catfish, can weigh over 100 pounds, lower jaw projects beyond the upper jaw, prefer to eat live food

C c Channel Catfish

4

Slightly-notched tail fin, dark chin barbels, commonly fished for in the Panhandle and East Texas

D d Black Bullhead

5

The most preferred catfish to catch in Texas, forked tail, smaller fish have dark spots along the body

E e Blue Catfish

(Images from commons.wikimedia.org)

S W I M B L A D D E R A U D R O A D I P O S E F I N A T R E T A W H S E R F O E F M A H S I F E M A G C H U B L A P R L L V W Q T L S L S E O N A E E A M U L R I B T T O T L L K A R U Q L F O F P H A U A D N B H W L T F R E C P P T A S L E B R A B A S X E O L G H R R L G C D A O B M P C H A N N E L F R A U L T K L T P C B S H E I S X E

c o r n e rIn Texas, catfish rank second as the

most popular freshwater gamefish, just behind largemouth bass. Catfish are known to be fun to catch, mainly by rod and reel or trotline, and many people find their meat delicious. Both freshwater and saltwater catfish exist in Texas waters, but catching the freshwater species is preferred because they are easier to clean and tastier to eat. In addition, catfish are economically important in sportfishing, and some species are grown commercially on catfish farms for human consumption. A few freshwater species common to Texas and their distinguishing characteristics are described below:

Channel Catfish (Ictalurus punctatus) – “Spotted Cat, Willow Cat, Fiddler”

This is the most numerous catfish species in North America and is the official state fish of Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, and Tennessee. They are also the most preferred catfish to catch in Texas and are most abundant in large streams with some current and lakes with sandy or graveled bottoms. Channel catfish are olive-brown to slate-blue with a paler belly and have a distinctly forked tail. Numerous small, black spots are typically present on younger fish and often disappear as the fish grows into a large adult. Their varied diet consists of insects, fish, mollusks, crustaceans, and even some plants. They grow to around 39 inches in length and 30 pounds, though some weighing over 40 pounds have been caught and recorded.

Blue Catfish (Ictalurus furcatus) – “Blue Cat, Humpback Blue”

Blue catfish are the largest freshwater sportfish in Texas and the state record measured 58 inches in length and weighed a little over 121 pounds. Their coloration is silvery-blue overall, shading to white on the undersides. Like the channel catfish, blue catfish have a forked tail and one species is commonly confused as the other, especially as large adults. One way to correctly identify the two is to look closely at the anal fin – the blue’s is long and straight with more rays, whereas

critter

By Cara Bierschwale

Named for the “feelers” near their mouths which resemble a cat’s whiskers, there are approximately 2,500 species of catfish and their relatives (Order Siluriformes) worldwide, except in Antarctica. They also account for three-quarters of all species of freshwater fish and vary in size and shape. The catfish species are a diverse group and have been remarkably successful in their “mud-grubbing” way of life. These nocturnal fish generally are predators or scavengers and their swim bladders enable them to live close to the bottom of the water. Their “feelers” are called barbels and are sensory structures used for touch and taste, which compensate for poor eyesight. In addition, most do not have ordinary scales. Many have “naked skin,” but there a few species with bony plates covering them like armor.

Freshwater catfishes (Family Ictaluridae) are native to North America and include around 49 species of catfish, bullheads, madtoms, and blindcats. They occur from the Rocky Mountains eastward, and from Canada down to Mexico and Guatemala. These elongated fish are scaleless, with broad flat heads, 4 pairs of long barbels around a wide mouth, an adipose fin (for fat storage), and sharp, heavy spines on the dorsal and pectoral fins. Sharing these features are the saltwater catfishes (Family Ariidae) living in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans and the Gulf of Mexico. These have 2-3 pairs of barbels, are commonly called “sea catfish,” and include the gafftopsail and hardhead catfish.

Bi h l

Texas Catfish...

A Freshwater Favorite

Gafftopsail catfish by Grady Allen

Catfish farming by Grady Allen

Blue catfish by Grady Allen

Channel catfish by Russell Graves

the channel’s is rounded with less rays. These fish typically occupy large river systems with clearer waters, channels, and tributaries and may move upstream for cooler waters during summer or downstream for warmer waters during winter. Their diet mainly includes other fish and invertebrates.

Flathead Catfish (Pylodictis olivaris) – “Yellow Cat, Shovelhead, Mud Cat, Opelousa”

As the name suggests, these large catfish have broad, flat heads and are typically yellow to light brown in color with dark mottling. Unlike other catfish, the lower jaw projects beyond the upper jaw and is a trait distinguishing them from the similar-looking bullhead catfish. Their tail fins are not forked as in the channel and blue catfish, but only slightly notched with a white tip on the upper lobe (in smaller individuals). They can reach a length of 3 to 4 feet and can exceed 100 pounds in weight. Flatheads prefer habitats in deep pools of streams and rivers, lakes and reservoirs, and canals where the water is murky and there is little to no current. They are more predatory than the other species and prey mainly on live crawfish and fish, including bass, carp, sunfish, and even other catfish.

Black Bullhead (Ameiurus melas) – “Polliwog, Chucklehead”The bullhead catfishes, including the yellow and brown species, are

not generally considered important gamefish in Texas but are commonly fished for in the Panhandle and East Texas. They grow to around 15 inches and 2 pounds, though the largest specimen reported in Texas was just over 5 pounds. They are uniformly black or dark olive-colored along the back and sides and pale or white below. These catfish have dark chin barbels and also a slightly-notched tail fin. Habitat includes silty waters with muddy bottoms, such as lakes, ponds, and swamps.

Tadpole Madtom (Noturus gyrinus) The madtom group is the most species-rich in North America, but they

do not grow large enough to attract interest from Texas anglers. They grow only to about 3 to 4 inches long and are noted for venomous glands at the base of their sharp fin spines. Madtoms have a long, fleshy fin on the back that appears to merge with the upper lobe of the rounded tail, resembling the look of a tadpole. They are dark brown to reddish in color and inhabit muddy-bottomed, well-vegetated lakes, ponds, and sluggish streams.

Sources:Burnie, David and Don E. Wilson. Animal. New York, NY: DK Publishing, Inc., 2001.Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. Freshwater Catfish in Texas. TPWD, 2012. http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/publications/pwdpubs/media/pwd_br_t3200_0236.pdfTexas Parks and Wildlife Department, Wildlife Fact Sheets. http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/huntwild/wild/speciesWhitfield, Dr. Philip. The Simon & Schuster Encyclopedia of Animals. Great Britain: Marshall Publishing, 1998.

Flathead catfish by Grady Allen

Black bullhead by Russell Graves

Name That Catfish! Answer Key: 1-E-e; 2-D-a; 3-A-b; 4-C-d; 5-B-c

Channel Catfish

(Ictalurus punctatus)

Dorsal fin

Olive brown to slate blue on the back and sides

4 pairs of barbelsSilvery-white undersides

Adipose fin

Dark spots scattered along the body

Pectoral fin

Pelvic finAnal fin

Caudal (tail) fin

Channel catfish by Grady Allen 6

…electric eels are considered closer relatives to catfish than to other eels?

…after the female channel catfish lays her eggs, the male guards the nest? Other males may even keep the eggs safe by holding them inside their mouths and won’t eat anything until after the eggs hatch.

… according to Fishhound Fishing Reports, Lake Texoma and the Trinity River are ranked highest as the best catfishing places in Texas?

… President Ronald Reagan established National Catfish Day on June 25, 1987 to recognize “the value of farm-raised catfish?”

…catfish have an anatomical feature called the Weberian apparatus, a chain of small bones linking the swim bladder and inner ear to enhance their sense of hearing?

Did you know...Large channel catfish by Grady Allen

Flathead catfish by Grady Allen

Image adapted from www.supercoloring.com

Color Me

Article and Photos By Rose Cooper

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The nightshades belong to the family Solanaceae. Texas has approximately 65 native species in this family. It is said that the family name comes from the Greek word meaning “solace” or “quieting”. This description refers to how the chemical properties of a few plants in this family can affect those that may ingest it. Nightshades in other parts of the world have been used to make pharmaceuticals, however the majority of Texas nightshades are considered poisonous.

The Family TraitsJust like your family, plant families have similar characteristics which they share. Your family may have the same color hair or eyes, while plant families share the same shape of flower or have leaves that look the same. Flowers of the nightshade family are actinomorphic. Now that’s a big word, but let’s break it down. “Actin” means radiating, while “morph” refers to having a shape or form. So actinomorphic simply means to have a shape or form that is radiating, similar to the sun. Another term used for the shape of the nightshade flowers is radially symmetrical. Imagine the flower in the shape of a pie. If you were to cut this “flower” pie into the same number of slices as there are petals, each slice would resemble the next slice. Nightshades would have five pieces of “flower” pie, since they have five petals. These petals are fused together on the sides which can make the shape of the flower look like a trumpet, a tube, a bell, or a star. Nightshade flowers can be white, yellow, blue, purple, or green (yes, green like their leaves). The leaf shapes of the nightshade family can vary, but most are arranged in an alternate pattern on the stem. This means that one leaf is attached to a stem on one side and another leaf is attached to the stem on another side, but higher or lower on the stem, not at the same height as the first leaf.

Glycoalkaloids = PoisonousMost of the plants in the Texas nightshade family are harmful and can cause illness and death if eaten by humans or livestock. This is due to a chemical found in the plant called solanine, which is a glycoalkaloid. Glycoalkaloids are the plants natural defense mechanism against insects and disease. This poison can be found in all parts of the plant, including the leaves and the fruits. In cattle and other livestock, the glycoalkaloids affect the digestive tract and the nervous system, causing nausea, abdominal pain and even paralysis.

The Potato FamilyThe family of Solanaceae is also called the potato family. That’s right! Potatoes come from this family as well as some other plants that we eat on a regular basis. Have you ever eaten a tomato, eggplant, sweet pepper or jalepeño? All of these plants come from the nightshade family. So, you might be wondering why we don’t get sick from these plants when we eat them. Well, that is because these plants have a very small amount of glycoalkaloids. Potatoes, however, have a higher amount of glycoalkaloids in them if they have started to sprout or if their skin has become green. It is advised to avoid these types of potatoes. The only Texas species of nightshade that is not harmful to eat is the chile pequín, but that depends on who is eating it, since they are spicier than a jalepeño.

The Nightshade Family

You may know the San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo hosts one of the most prestigious professional rodeos in the world.

You may also know we have one of the world’s largest junior livestock shows and that we support agriculture and education

to develop the youth of Texas. But did you know that we encourage responsible management and the use of our beautiful

Texas wildlife and natural resources through the Texas Wildlife Expo? Through interactive educational exhibits and hands-on

demonstrations that make learning fun for the entire family, you’ll see that our commitment to Texas youth just comes natural.

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Wildlife is in our nature.Wildlife is in our nature.