Last Day of the Season...for Mussels

Today was probably my last field day this year for sampling Western Pearlshell mussels (WPM) for signs of gravidity. Sad! The flow is low and the mussels are burrowing deeper into the substrate, making it harder to find them. At this time of year, when you pull a WPM out of the substrate, they sometimes squirt you and sometimes make noises. Maybe a bit more stressful with less flow and warmer temperatures? Or just a habit of theirs. I guess I wouldn't be quiet if I was pulled out of my habitat either .

Two new people in our office came out to help me. Rachel and Doug. They will mostly be working with the lamprey crew, formally known as the non-salmonid team, for the rest of the summer. Anyway, neither one of them had done any mussel work so they were excited and ready to go. Freshwater mussels already fascinate me so their enthusiasm made it even more fun.

There are few people who come out with me who actually will sample the mussels. You see, in order to check for gravidity we must open the mussel up about a centimeter to inspect their gills. That's where the mussel broods its eggs. So when I asked them if they wanted to sample they delightedly said Yes. I sampled the first couple of transects and showed them what to do and they pretty much took over after that.

The weather could not have been better and the company was excellent. What a great day. Thanks Rachel and Doug. I hope you enjoy your time at the CRFPO.



For more mussel blogs check out mussel mania I posted Feb 2010 and mussel mania II posted in May 2010.

Submitted by Donna Allard

Another Potential Threat to Native Species?

Recently, I was reading an aquatic nuisance species newsletter. In it, there was a little snippet about a creature called a ‘tadpole shrimp’, Triops longicaudatus. This animal is apparently sold as a novelty pet, sort of like sea monkeys. They are crustaceans with 3 little eyes and can grow to 2 ½ inches in length. They are sometimes called the dinosaur shrimp, having changed little in the last 200 million years.


Triops are interesting creatures, indeed, and is a very successful animal. They have become adapted to living in vernal pools or temporary ponds. In the winter and spring, as these ponds fill with water, the Triops eggs hatch. Within a few weeks, they can reach 2 inches in length. Being omnivores, they eat almost anything from algae to shrimp and insects, sometimes even their own siblings. After maturing they lay eggs. Triops can live up to 90 days, but die once the water dries up in the pool. The eggs remain in the dirt of the dried up pond, until the next rain.

Triops eggs are extremely hardy. The eggs can withstand freezing temperatures as well as hot temperatures over 200 degrees F for over half a day. They can also remain in a dormant stage for up to 20 years. Because they are adapted to living in temporary pools, the eggs must completely dry out before they can hatch, therefore these animals cannot live in permanent water bodies.

Tadpole shrimp are gaining enormous popularity as pets with many websites dedicated solely to the care and raising of these animals. They are cute and novel but we all know what sometimes happens when people get tired of or outgrow their aquarium inhabitants. Do you remember all those rusty crayfish which were used for educational instruction? Once the studies were over, the instructors or students would release them into the nearest water body, not realizing the impact the non-native crayfish might have on the ecosystem. The result: the rusty crayfish not only displaces our one species of native crayfish but also dines on fish eggs. Will Triops become such a threat to animals native to our vernal pools?

What do you think of shipping these animals all over the world? What might their potential impact be on native species if they are released?

FWS 101 – Fish Identification

The Columbia River Fisheries Program Office (CRFPO) recently held an open house, during which, a number of local high school students visited the office. Part of the open house featured a Fish Identification session. This was an opportunity for the students to learn about, see and experience some of what the biologists at CRFPO do every day in streams of the Pacific Northwest … identify what it is they are working with!

There are many types of fish in the world that have different appearances, different behaviors, and live in different habitats. So the initial discussion focused around what makes a fish a fish. While many people seem to think they know exactly what you are talking about when you say the word fish, sometimes it can be pretty challenging for them to give a simple definition of what a fish is. The students brainstormed a bit and came up with many of the important characteristics. In general, fishes have three important traits in common: 1) they live in water, 2) they have fins and 3) they use gills to get their oxygen from the water.

When it comes to identifying fish, it is also important to know that life is full of changes. Most fish go through a cycle where they start as an embryo (or fertilized egg), hatch into a larval form, develop into a juvenile form and finally mature into an adult form. Fish from the same species can look very different from each other depending on which of the forms you are trying to identify. For example, the picture below shows a larval (left) and adult (right) fish from the same species.


(not to exact scale, relative scale only)

One fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish (Dr. Suess).
The students then worked through the classification system that most biologists and scientists use, and that many of them had already learned in school! This system is a method by which biologists group and categorize organisms by biological type, arranging organisms into a hierarchical series of nested groups. The scientific approach is to take all things and group them (from largest group to smallest group) by: Domain, Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus and Species (which usually has a related common name). The following questions helped CRFPO biologists and the students determine if what they were looking at could be a fish. To possibly be a fish, they needed to answer “Yes” to the following: 1) Does it have cells with a nucleus? (Domain = Eucaryota), 2) Is it a multicellular, heterotroph? (Kingdom = Animalia), 3) Does it have a hollow, dorsal nerve chord? (Phylum = Chordata). Within this Phylum there are three Classes of fish. Chrondrichthyes are the cartilaginous fish for which there are over 900 species. Agnatha are the jawless fish for which there are over 100 species. Osteichthyes are the bony fish for which there are over 30,000 species. The goal of FWS 101 was to focus on five particular species and be able to identify two jawless fish as well as three bony fish. The jawless fish were both from the Order Petromyzontiformes and Family Petromyzontidae and their common names were Pacific lamprey & western brook lamprey. The bony fish were all from the Order Salmoniformes and Family Salmonidae and their common names were Chinook salmon, coho salmon and cutthroat trout.


Its All In The Sequence?
CRFPO biologists then went through a series of questions to help determine which of these five species a student might be looking at.

Question 1) “Is it jawless or jawed”? The pictures below show a jawless fish (left) and jawed fish (right).



To be a lamprey a fish would have to be jawless. In addition, lamprey have gill slits, no paired fins and a notochord.

Question 2) Is it a Pacific lamprey or western brook lamprey?

If it was jawless, what does the caudal area look like? Two common species of lamprey in the Pacific Northwest are Pacific lamprey and western brook lamprey. The larval forms of these species can be difficult to identify (see the picture below). Larval Pacific lamprey (left) have a relatively light caudal ridge with a dark, uniformly pigmented caudal fin. Larval western brook lamprey (right) have a relatively dark caudal ridge with a clear, or speckled caudal fin.



Question 3) Is it a trout or a salmon?

Approximately 18 species of trout can be found world wide. Five of these species are found in the Pacific Northwest. Three of the species found in the Pacific Northwest are native (cutthroat trout, bull trout, rainbow trout) while two of the species have been introduced (brown trout and brook trout). Although trout and salmon can look somewhat similar, trout have less than 13 rays in their anal fin (while salmon have more than 12).

Question 4) Is it a cutthroat trout?

A trout is generally a cutthroat when it has red/pink marks (slashes) in the throat area, speckles on its body and dorsal fin, and teeth on its tongue.

Question 5) Is it a Chinook or a coho salmon?

Five species of salmon can generally be found in the Pacific Northwest (pink, chum, sockeye, Chinook and coho). In FWS 101, if the students identified a fish as a salmon, it could have been either a Chinook or coho salmon. Chinook salmon have parr marks that are wider than the spaces between them, an adipose fin with a clear center and no spots on dorsal fin. Coho salmon have parr marks that are oval and narrower than the spaces between them, anal and dorsal fins with leading edges that are white followed by black, an orange hue (mostly on adipose, anal and caudal fins) and no spots on the dorsal fin.

Every day, from here to there, funny things are everywhere (Dr. Suess).By the end of the day the students had done a tremendous job absorbing all of this information. They skillfully used the key below and had become experts identifying these five species of fish. And you never know when they might find one of these fish in their neighborhood stream!

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FWS 101 - Dichotomous Fish Key (Abbreviated to help tell the difference between five species … Pacific lamprey, western brook lamprey, Chinook salmon, coho salmon, cutthroat trout).

1a. Fish is jawless (Petromyzontidae – lamprey) .................... 2
1b. Fish is bony with jaws (Salmonidae – salmon and trout) .................... 3

2a. Caudal ridge is lighter relative to surrounding areas; caudal fin is more pigmented relative to other species of lamprey …… Pacific lamprey – Entosphenus tridentata
2b. Caudal ridge has consistent dark pigmentation; caudal fin has relatively no pigmentation (clear) with some spotting possibly present .................... Western brook lamprey – Lampetra richardsoni

3a. Anal fin with 9-12 fin rays, dorsal fin speckled (trout) .................... 4
3b. Anal fin with 13-19 fin rays, dorsal fin not speckled (salmon) .................... 5

4. Red or pink streak on underside of each mandible; presence of basibranchial teeth .................... Cutthroat trout – Oncorhynchus clarkii

5a. Parr marks are wider than interspaces; adipose fin has clear center; no spots on dorsal fin .................... Chinook salmon – Oncorhynchus tschawytscha
5b. Parr marks are oval and more narrow than interspaces; leading edges of anal and dorsal fins have white followed by black; orange hue in adipose, anal, and caudal fins; no spots on dorsal fin .................... Coho salmon – Oncorhynchus kisutch


Submitted by Tim Whitesel, Jeff Jolley, Mike Hudson, and Courtney Newlon

We Share One Place - Oregon's Endangered Species

A few years back, I had a request from a teacher for materials about endangered species. I searched my cabinets for FWS materials and could only come up with outdated material from over 20 years ago. Even though there is a wealth of information on the internet, there is no comprehensive piece focused on the species in our own backyard. At the time, I remembered having seen a draft booklet developed by the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Office, geared to students in grades 4 through 7. I called up Nancy, one of the developers and we agreed that we should finalize the draft book, started nine years earlier. We decided to try to find the original files, update the information, and get it into distribution.

During our initial consultations, I was visiting with Nancy in her office and she pulled out a prototype of the book. Apparently only a handful of copies were even printed before the project was shelved, literally. She held the only copy left so gently and with such guard, I was afraid to even touch it, much less hold it. I laugh when I think back on that moment.

Fast forward more than 10 months later and the book is finalized with an initial printing of 300 copies. We felt that to maximize the effectiveness of this new resource it was important to do a targeted distribution plan. The plan is to provide 10 classrooms with 30 booklets (1 per student) and to make ourselves available as consultants to the teachers. This would include assisting with the outdoor activity and having a biologist speak to the students (should the teacher request it).


So far the book has been distributed to six schools in the Portland area. As the word gets out, I'm sure it will gain popularity as the new school year begins in September. if you are an educator interested in this invaluable resource, please contact us.

Submitted by Donna Allard

Outreach at Cape Horn Skye Elementary

Six Columbia River Fisheries Program Office employees set out for a morning of outreach at Cape Horn Skye School. Our intent was to entertain and educate 55 curious 1st graders. Little did we know how fun it would be! It was the first time our outreach program involved such a young group. We began our event with a very short introduction, then jumped right into a video that introduced bats to children. They were intrigued and made some funny comments throughout the video.


Next on the agenda was a Creatures of the Night Presentation. This also held their attention, but the comments kept coming. Following the video we split the class into two parts, Group A and Group B. Group A were sent to another room to dissect owl pellets. An overhead projection of possible bones to be found was portrayed for the students to compare their findings. Ok, this time we had to chuckle under our breath at comments made regarding the owl pellets. We had to reassure the students that the pellets had been sterilized. Not many realize that an owl regurgitate the pellets. Most believe it comes out the other end.

Group B were provided the opportunity to make fish prints. We supplied them with two real steelhead and a multitude of rubber fish, a rubber starfish, and a rubber turtle to make prints with. The students were great! They had a blast painting and were thrilled with their prints.


Many thanks to Donna Allard, our Outreach Fishery Biologist, that lead the event and thanks to Cape Horn Skye School for the opportunity to provide an outreach event for the first grade classes.

Submitted by Andrea Houts

First Ever CRFPO Open House

Last month, the Columbia River Fisheries Program Office (CRFPO) held its first ever ‘open house’. This event was targeted at local high school students to showcase careers in science as well as give them a closer look at some of the specific activities performed by our office.

The students were scheduled to arrive at 9 am on a Tuesday. Around 8:40 am, I heard a co-worker exclaiming that a school bus had arrived. Well, just a little early. Sometimes it is hard to keep the buses on schedule. I quickly alerted everyone that the students had arrived. Even though we planned on a short introduction to the CRFPO in the conference room, I knew folks would want to get to their stations and prepare for the onslaught of students.

Howard Schaller, our project leader gave a short PowerPoint presentation outlining the what, how, and whys of what we do here. The students seemed interested but were soon ready to head out for some hands on activities. We had prepared four activities lasting about ½ hour each, so we divided the students into four smaller groups and each group went to a different activity. After two hours they had rotated through all four activities.

The first activity took place in our ‘head room’ and lab. The head room is the room the crew uses to cut coded wire tags out of fish snouts that return to the hatcheries. Here, the students learned about aging fish by reading fish scales. Steve had previously rounded up a Chinook salmon from one of the hatcheries and each student removed a scale and placed it on a card that was pressed between a special film. They later went into the lab and using a microfiche reader, looked at the scales to determine the fish’s age. A coded wire tag was also available to look at under a microscope, and Jesse explained the purpose of marking fish using this technology. General information on the marking program was conveyed to the students as well.

The students left the lab and entered the warehouse where there was a fish identification lesson. They only had to sit for a short introduction before moving about and identifying real fish specimens. They used a dichotomous key to identify key features of lamprey, coastal cutthroat trout, coho and Chinook. I heard comments such as ‘I actually learned how to tell the difference between a coho and Chinook fry’ as the students left for their next activity.

Next, the students followed our guides to the wareyard. There, 2 large tanks were set up, corks bobbing in water. A short presentation was given by staff biologists on how to estimate fish population abundance using a mark/recapture method. With the use of blindfolds, nets, and a calculator, the students soon figured out that the precision of their estimate was dependent on such variables as number of fish marked and the number of recaptures. Since the students were already in the wareyard, the place where a lot of our sampling gear is stored, they had a bit of time to see screw traps, electro fishing boats, and lamprey sampling gear up close.

From the yard, the students walked across our parking lot to a vacant field across the street. They were met by biologists from the Hatchery Assessment Team. They were given the task of finding a radio tag that was previously placed in the field. After a short demonstration on how to use the radio antenna and transmitter, the students took over. Our biologists remarked on how quickly the students could find the tag using triangulation.

The teacher thought the day was awesome and it has already spurred some interest from a few of the students as a place to do a senior project or volunteer. We here at CRFPO all thought the day was a success and plan to do this every year. So, if there are any teachers in the area who may be interested in attending our open house, let us know! And, keep an eye on our blog over the next couple of weeks –the biologists who ran each activity will tell you a little more about what they showed the students. Who knows – it might give you an idea for something new to try, whether it’s in the classroom or in your own career!

Submitted by Donna Allard

13th Annual Watershed Congress

The halls and classrooms at Washington State University in Vancouver were filled with eager students, educators, and community members. These were not college students though. They ranged from third-graders to 12th-graders and were at the college to attend the Watershed Congress.


For the past 13 years, over 20,000 citizen students have been monitoring Clark County lakes, rivers, streams, and storm waters. The Congress is the culminating event each year which brings students who are part of the Watershed Monitoring Network together with the community in evaluating changing watershed conditions in their neighborhoods from data collected during the school year. The Network targets education, discovery, and stewardship.


This year, over 200 students from 3rd to 12th grades representing 24 schools, 55 teachers and 3,000 students did 43 presentations about the sites they monitored. During the event, four presentations are given in a classroom after which community members and other students are encouraged to ask questions. After the presentations, the students discuss the health of their respective monitoring sites. Later students from different schools are grouped together and discuss various issues which may be affecting water quality at their monitoring sites. They then work with scientists and community members to offer solutions for the water issues they have identified throughout the year.

The day also has various fun components. Usually a local music group or act will perform. Students also submit and vote on photographs taken during their studies in different categories which can include: Comedy, Teamwork, and Fashion. Prizes are given for the winning photos as well.

This program is sponsored by the City of Vancouver Water Resources Education Center, Clark County Environmental Services: Clean Water Program, and Washington State University Vancouver Science Programs. It is made a success by countless of other agencies and community members.

Submitted by Donna Allard