Killifish - The end of the rain pool. (Kissimmee Prairie Preserve)
Hard to know just how to feel when I came across several small drying pools of water filled with colorful suffocating killifish, minnows, and mosquitofish. My first inclination was to somehow try to save them, though this was obviously not possible -- nor even desirable. Then I was practically forced to reflect on how these fish provide food and fertilizer for so many other animals and plants, and how their drought-resistant eggs will hatch with the next heavy rain, repopulating the next rain pool -- and how awesome (and unsentimental) the whole ecological system is -- an endless cycle of life and death. Ultimately I settled for attempting to document their beauty and struggle as their lives were ending.
The colorful, larger fish in the image are Florida (or American) Flagfish (Jordanella floridae) -- they get to about 2.5 inches.
Hard to know just how to feel when I came across several small drying pools of water filled with colorful suffocating killifish, minnows, and mosquitofish. My first inclination was to somehow try to save them, though this was obviously not possible -- nor even desirable. Then I was practically forced to reflect on how these fish provide food and fertilizer for so many other animals and plants, and how their drought-resistant eggs will hatch with the next heavy rain, repopulating the next rain pool -- and how awesome (and unsentimental) the whole ecological system is -- an endless cycle of life and death. Ultimately I settled for attempting to document their beauty and struggle as their lives were ending.
The colorful, larger fish in the image are Florida (or American) Flagfish (Jordanella floridae) -- they get to about 2.5 inches.
Killifish - The end of the rain pool. (Kissimmee Prairie Preserve)
Hard to know just how to feel when I came across several small drying pools of water filled with colorful suffocating killifish, minnows, and mosquitofish. My first inclination was to somehow try to save them, though this was obviously not possible -- nor even desirable. Then I was practically forced to reflect on how these fish provide food and fertilizer for so many other animals and plants, and how their drought-resistant eggs will hatch with the next heavy rain, repopulating the next rain pool -- and how awesome (and unsentimental) the whole ecological system is -- an endless cycle of life and death. Ultimately I settled for attempting to document their beauty and struggle as their lives were ending.
The colorful, larger fish in the image are Florida (or American) Flagfish (Jordanella floridae) -- they get to about 2.5 inches.
Hard to know just how to feel when I came across several small drying pools of water filled with colorful suffocating killifish, minnows, and mosquitofish. My first inclination was to somehow try to save them, though this was obviously not possible -- nor even desirable. Then I was practically forced to reflect on how these fish provide food and fertilizer for so many other animals and plants, and how their drought-resistant eggs will hatch with the next heavy rain, repopulating the next rain pool -- and how awesome (and unsentimental) the whole ecological system is -- an endless cycle of life and death. Ultimately I settled for attempting to document their beauty and struggle as their lives were ending.
The colorful, larger fish in the image are Florida (or American) Flagfish (Jordanella floridae) -- they get to about 2.5 inches.
See photo in original gallery.
filename: KPPDyingKillifish0789HW1-CLEvans |