Fish Trip!

No, I did not misspell the title..it was not a typo. I actually meant "Fish Trip" not "Fishing Trip". This story does not involve me heading out to catch a few fish for my lunch, rather it is a different type of fish tale. One where the fish are actually taking a trip, not through a natural migration but rather a man-made working vacation of sorts. There is a tiny fish that lives in the marshes and in the bayous around here that is making quite a name for itself. These little fishies could very well be classified as heroes! Gambusia Affinis, is a fish that we have always pretty much ignored unless it was needed as bait for larger fish. It is small, never getting more than about two and a half inches long when fully grown. The local nickname is "Pot-belly" minnow and for good reason. It sometimes seems that about ninety percent of these fish are female and these females are always "very" pregnant. I know..that is quite an exaggeration with the ninety percent but the always being pregnant part is not that much of a fabrication as the females are mature enough to give birth at the ripe old age of six weeks. They reproduce at a rapid rate, giving birth to as many as one hundred babies at a time several times a season. You might think this would be a problem at some point but as I said, larger fish feed upon them as do all of the shorebirds. I have even witnessed Garter Snakes catching them in the tide pools during low tide. But back to the story of the travelling fish. It seems that this tiny fish eats masses of mosquito eggs and larvae every day. So many mosquitoes that it has earned the name of Mosquitofish. There is also, the Eastern Mosquitofish which is the Gambusia Holbrooki. They are very much alike and again this one is locally called "Pot-belly" for the same reason as the other. Now, these minuscule minnows with their ample appetites are being raised on fish farms in Mississippi for use worldwide for mosquito control. After Katrina, these fishes were used all over the Coast to battle the many mosquitoes that bred out of control in abandoned swimming pools and other stagnant water sources. The latest attempt at this use is in the earthquake stricken Haiti. Thousands of the tiny Mississippi raised fish are being shipped to Haiti to eat the mosquito larvae. This is in an attempt to prevent massive outbreaks of Malaria and other diseases that are spread by the insect. Thus, our wee water friends are headed thousands of miles away to do some very important work. Work hard, Little Friend..eat hearty..save lives! I guess in a sense, this tiny little Mississippi fish is not so small after all!