harvesting wild mysids

B

bunsenburner

Premium Member
Jason,

I've been thinking about heading out to collect some (frozen are starting to chew into the budget). Can you remind me of the best tide, places, etc.

Have you ever hear of folks harvesting smaller zooplankton (pods)? I've been thinking of this also since culturing enough to feed my herd is problematic. Any suggestions of how this could be done would be ideal.
 
Hi Matt,
I actually caught some today! Was working in Boothbay and happened to have a net with me:) I would go at low tide, just about anywhere along the coast. Try to find areas where you can access the shore that are't too close to Portland harbor, and where there isn't a big surf crashing in on shore. Look for areas that have alot of rock week growing on the rocks that are exposed at low tide, kinda like at the lab last summer. Today, I just pushed the net around the weeds. Also caught lots of big copepods (2mm). You will probably need hip boots, or at least rubber boots. Water is reallllly cold now, don't fall in.
As for harvesting pods, I caught many with my net today. THey where right in with the mysids. Do you have a fine mesh net that is bigger diameter than the aqaurium nets? The net I had was about 14" dia, with a 2' handle. Maybe one of those butterfly nets. Or, you could toss a plankton net off a pier somewhere.

I remember once when I was on a lobster boat out in Casco bay somewhere, there were zillions of sand fleas coming up with the lobster traps. They were feeding on the lobster bait. Would have been a great way to collect giant pods.
 
Can mysids be found in all coastal waters? I've been looking for a place to pick up some live mysids for my fuge. Might be worth a trip to the bay of fundy if I can find some there.

Chris
 
I would guess they are found in most areas. Would depend on the habitat there. The myisds won't be found in areas where there is a lot of surf or current. Look for places where the water is calm and there are weeds or something to provide cover for them.
 
If I can get back down to Grand Manan this summer, I'll have to make a point of looking. There are a few nice coves there that might be worth a shot. Too bad it's such a drive to get there. (I'm just across the border from Limestone ME)

Chris
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7100192#post7100192 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by bunsenburner
I think ME2003 and I are going to give biddeford pool a shot
Click to expand...

Should be able to get some there. I haven't been there for awhile, is there much public access?
 
is there much public access?

Not a lot, I have gone scuba diving there and there are several
parking spots on the side of the road by the firestation.
As with most of Maine from 6/15 to 8/30, tourist take over.
It is still possibly on cloudy days when they all go to the Mall or
early in the morning. Who wants to wake up early on vacation.
 
Does anyone have any other experiences taking stuff from the coast of Maine to utilize in their tanks?

I'm mostly thinking food stuff, but I saw a post mentioning snails also... What about something decorative for the tank? Any stories?
 
I utilize a spotfin butterfly for my tank:) You can also catch amphipods for a refugium or for food. If there is something you want to use for your tank other than food, I would collect it in the summer. The temperature change from ocean to your tank this time of year could be too drastic. There are lots of hermit crabs too, but they probably aren't reef safe.
It would be cool to set up a Gulf of Maine tank if you had a chiller. Lots of cool fish live around the tide line.
 
the amphipods and other critters from the coast will multiply very rapidly if given a place where they are not eaten by fish... my tank turned into breeding ground when fishless part of last summer...
Then with a single six line addition--- his belly truned huge and they are only seen in the refugium now...
 
Matt -

You should check out the tide pools down at Higgins Beach, low to mid-tide. They are on the far right end of the beach. I have found all kinds of critters poking around down there. Lot of rock weed and pools of varying depths. On Shore road in Cape there is also the cove that comes right up to the road. I know they harvest seaweed down there at low tide.
 
We went to biddeford pool and caught a lot of amphipods(Gammaridea).Tried to stop a Higgins beach.
The whole area is closed to parking from April 1 to Oct 1
Many neighborhoods in this area do as much as they
can to restrict access to "their" beach. The black point
area is next. After the inn is converted to condos,
many believe they will close the area to the public.
They already have hired a police officer to check
people driving in.
 
Didn't find any mysids only amphipods. Don't know why. We hunted at low tide and in comparison to the Boothbay location it was less protected (e.g. tide crashing on rock a few hundered meters out with little wave activity on the beach). Any thoughts Jason?
 
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