Wildlife in Full Color - Ohio Department of Natural Resources

More documents

Recommendations

Info

COLOR in Fishh e n y o ut h i n k o fcolorful fish, youmight think of brightlittle darters, or acolorfully named fish like the rainbowtrout. There aren’t very many colorfulfish, right? Wrong! All fish are colorful,but they are not all brightlyor vibrantly colored. Fishhave several color adaptationsfor living life underwater. Likeall of the other wildlife in Ohio, fishuse color for survival, protection, andfinding a mate.THE COLOR OF SURVIVALHave you ever looked into a pool of acreek or the edge of a pond and thought,“there’s nothing in there!” Finding fishunderwater is tricky, but here’s a hint– stay still. Smaller fish, like minnowsin a creek, will hold still when they seeanything moving in or above the water.Once you are still and they feel safe, theywill begin moving again. Why was it sohard to see them when they were still?You guessed it, camouflage keeps themfrom being seen.Many fish have similar camouflagepatterns. When you look at a fish, theirtopside is dark-colored, banded, ormottled. This helps them blend in whensomething (or someone) is looking downat them from above. The dark color helpsthem blend into the dark depths of thewater or the bottom of the creek or lake.When you look at the underside, or thebelly of a fish, you will see that it is lightcolored.This helps them blend in whensomething is looking up at them frombelow. The light color of their bellieshelps them blend into the light color ofthe sky and the light above water.
COLOR SCHEME: COMPLEMENTARYComplementary colors are opposite of each other on the color wheel. The high contrast between huescreates a vibrant look, especially when used at full saturation.THE COLOR OF SCIENCEPeople have studied fish for a long time.The more biologists learn about fish, themore they can learn about their habits,their habitats, and their needs for survival.Fish biologists study fish populations andhabitat. Biologists weigh, measure, andage millions of fish to study how healthytheir populations are. How do they gettheir hands on large numbers of fish? Theanswer may shock you.Biologists use color of fish to theiradvantage. You know the commonpattern of a fish, the darker side is on thetop and the lighter side is on the bottomof a fish. Biologists use a technique called“electro shocking” to temporarily still aswimming fish. A carefully regulated electriccurrent is sent through the water,and the fish will flip upside-down. Biologistsare ready with nets so when they seethose white bellies, they scoop up the fish,gather information, and then return therecovered fish to the water.THE COLOR OF THE CATCHTake a stroll through any store thatsells fishing tackle or artificial bait and youwill see a rainbow of colors. Anythingfrom bright red, to “pumpkinseed,” tochartreuse, anglers keep a huge selectionof color in their tackle boxes because fishwill sometimes choose one color of baitover another. When anglers bait theirhook, they are trying to mimic food thatthe fish might eat. If the bait looks enoughlike food, the fish will bite. There arevarious reasons for deciding which bait touse. Anglers are trying to catch fish bycatching their eye. If the water is murkyor not clear, anglers will use brightercolored bait so the fish can see it better.If the water is clear and the bait is morevisible to the fish, colors that are morenatural are used.FISH FLOP: the different colorsof a white bassACTIVITY: A COLORFUL CROSSWORDFill in the fish’s name that contains a color or pattern. See answers on back cover312ACROSS 3. ____ catfish4. ____ darter5. ____ worm6. ____ sunfish7. ____ crappie8. ____ perch9. ____ bass456789DOWN 1. southern ____ dace2. ____ trout4. ____ sunfish6. ____ redhorse2011 - 2012 WILD OHIO MAGAZINE15
Page 4 and 5: PRIMARYSurviving in a Wild WorldW I
Page 6 and 7: Color for ProtectionW I L D L I F E
Page 8 and 9: Hey Good Lookin’W I L D L I F E I
Page 10 and 11: People, Wildlife, and ColorW I L D
Page 12 and 13: hio’s mammals come in all kindsof
Page 16 and 17: hio’s insects are found in a rain
Page 18 and 19: COLOR in Birdsirror, mirror on the
Page 20 and 21: COLOR in Amphibianshen we think abo
Page 22 and 23: nlike people, most young reptilesar

Wildlife in Full Color - Ohio Department of Natural Resources

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?