THE ULTIMATE ANGLING BUCKET LIST

the whole stretch to do with as we pleased for a day, including the famous stretch where legendary fly
fisherman Frank Sawyer developed and perfected his upstream nymphing technique.
We were told that we could even trot maggots through the various swims, which amongst a nice mix of
roach, grayling and brown trout, also produced some very good dace.
BITTERLING Rhodeus sericeus
Bucket List status – result
An invasive alien, though probably
harmless cyprinid species, easily overlooked
on account of its very small size,
but at the same time, readily identified by
anyone wanting to know what it is they
have just caught.
In terms of body shape, it follows the
silver bream-bleak general body profile
and layout. The key distinguishing
feature, other than its small size of
course, is its very short lateral line, which
barely runs the length of the pectoral fin.
Colour-wise, the back is greenish grey
becoming lighter on the flanks and silvery below, with hints of orange on the fins, and an almost neon
metallic diffuse stripe where the lateral line should be towards the tail end of the body.
At breeding time, these colours will be enhanced, particularly in the males, which is what originally
made it such a popular aquarium fish, some of which, either deliberately or by accident, found their
way into the wild, the earliest observations of which were around the 1920's, where at the time they
were confined to one specific area of Lancashire and Cheshire.
I first became aware of the species when a match angling friend of mine, in the company of many other
match-men in our area, started catching a small unidentified fish in the Lancaster Canal just to the north
of Preston. So I went along and caught a few myself.
Mostly they were up to around an inch or so in length, but very obviously not one of our indigenous
species on account of the short length of lateral line and the metallic sheen mentioned above.
A quick check with my fish ID books confirmed them as being bitterling. As a result, it seems I may
have made a few queries with fishery scientists. I don't know. It's that far back I can't honestly
remember.
I must have said something though, because before long I was collecting specimens for the British
Museum, and later putting a large plastic dustbin fitted with an aerator carrying quite a few bitterling
and swan mussels on to a train at Preston station, labelled for the attention of the BBC Natural History
Unit in Bristol who wanted to film their amazing life cycle.
The female deposits her eggs by way of a long ovipositing tube into the gill chambers of swan mussels
which are then fertilized by sperm inhaled by the same swan mussel which the male releases adjacent
to it.
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