minnbuckeye Posted February 19, 2017 Share Posted February 19, 2017 My wife and I have just returned from a wonderful Florida vacation (actually a continuing education trip). I will use my next 4 posts (Florida 1,2 3, and 4) to help the Florida Division of Tourism persuade northerners/snowbirds to arrange for a vacation here. Florida 1 involves the beaches around Venice Florida. Beautiful! I had a preference for Caspersen Beach, an undeveloped stretch of beach that allows one to see Florida as it may have been before human alterations. Wildlife was plentiful, people were not. My favorite animals were the tortoises that roamed the interior of the narrow island. Most enjoyed a photo op. This one however was a bit shy! For spouses that do not have an interest in fossils this Florida beach provides great shelling or a relaxing place for some sun and a good book or just gawk at the idiots screening for sharks teeth. I was definitely not the only one! However, since this is the fossil forum, I must talk about what is available at Caspersen Beach. The interior of this barrier island is replenished with fossiliferous material, different than what washes up on the beaches. Unfortunately, collecting is NOT allowed here but the tortoises excavate new material daily for all to see and enjoy! I saw a variety of shells and some sharks teeth. I also saw where people have dug massive holes and not reclaimed the dig sites. I am sure this was a big reason for disallowing collecting. As for the beach, fossil material does wash up here and is collectable and keepable. I strongly suggest a sifting utensil to screen through the beach deposits. Walmart sells sand flea rakes for $18.00. Beach shops are more expensive A good investment to assure a pocket full of teeth goes home with you. I had made a screening device at home and packed it in my suit case. It DID significantly outperform flea rakes when the tide was low. Here I am using my home made screen. Floats did not work well with the ocean waves. However the rake worked better in higher water. A typical collection with the sand flea rake: Notice that I spread the material in the rake on the beach where the very last bit of wave can wash and spread the contents enough to allow easy pickings of the teeth. I focused my collecting to the little (1 foot) drop off at the deeper side of the shell wash. In other words, if one slowly walks out into the ocean, you will feel a shelly layer at your feet. Then a sudden small drop off occurs and you now feel a sandy bottom. This change in depth and content was my most productive layer to collect from. So when the tide is high, The log handle of the flea rake allows me to collect without submerging my body using my home made screen. And in February, the ocean is cool even for me. When screening, one never knows what might show up as evidenced here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minnbuckeye Posted February 19, 2017 Author Share Posted February 19, 2017 This is a typical pile of teeth that one finds in about 30 to 60 minutes of screening: After a day at the beach, there is a great place to have dinner and watch the sun set right at the Venice Beach Pier. They gladly accept your sandy, salty bodies. No questions asked. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
History Hunter02 Posted February 19, 2017 Share Posted February 19, 2017 Those were some nice finds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcbshark Posted February 19, 2017 Share Posted February 19, 2017 Great pics Mike Every once in a great while it's not just a big rock down there! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
belemniten Posted February 19, 2017 Share Posted February 19, 2017 Great trip ! I love your fresh and and clear pictures ! Many greetings from Germany ! Have a great time with many fossils Regards Sebastian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digit Posted February 21, 2017 Share Posted February 21, 2017 On 2/19/2017 at 9:00 AM, minnbuckeye said: My favorite animals were the tortoises that roamed the interior of the narrow island. I had great fun seeing the Gopher Tortoises (Gopherus polyphemus) at Caspersen--an important keystone species. More about this interesting species can be seen here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gopher_tortoise On 2/19/2017 at 9:00 AM, minnbuckeye said: I focused my collecting to the little (1 foot) drop off at the deeper side of the shell wash. In other words, if one slowly walks out into the ocean, you will feel a shelly layer at your feet. Then a sudden small drop off occurs and you now feel a sandy bottom. This change in depth and content was my most productive layer to collect from. Good intel for those looking to do a little fossil raking at the beach. On 2/19/2017 at 9:00 AM, minnbuckeye said: When screening, one never knows what might show up as evidenced here. I've found similar (even smaller) flatfish when sifting in the Peace River. Don't know if they were freshwater species or just saltwater species that are very tolerant of varying salinity levels. The ones I came across were about the size of a quarter and would stick to the wooden sides of my sifting screen. I'd have to submerge the screen and prod them to leave before I could sort though my screenful of fossils. Cheers. -Ken Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minnbuckeye Posted February 21, 2017 Author Share Posted February 21, 2017 29 minutes ago, digit said: I had great fun seeing the Gopher Tortoises (Gopherus polyphemus) at Caspersen--an important keystone species. More about this interesting species can be seen here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gopher_tortoise Good intel for those looking to do a little fossil raking at the beach. I've found similar (even smaller) flatfish when sifting in the Peace River. Don't know if they were freshwater species or just saltwater species that are very tolerant of varying salinity levels. The ones I came across were about the size of a quarter and would stick to the wooden sides of my sifting screen. I'd have to submerge the screen and prod them to leave before I could sort though my screenful of fossils. Cheers. -Ken Interesting!!! Hope someone can give guidance to solve this mystery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Pristis Posted February 22, 2017 Share Posted February 22, 2017 I believe these flatfish are soles. I've seen too many of them in freshwater rivers for it to be an accidental occurrence. I think a freshwater stint is part of their life cycle (like Anguilla), or they may be a dwarf species that lives permanently in freshwater. I've never seen one larger than a few inches. They didn't do well in an aquarium for me. http://pristis.wix.com/the-demijohn-page What seest thou else In the dark backward and abysm of time? ---Shakespeare, The Tempest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peace river rat Posted February 22, 2017 Share Posted February 22, 2017 58 minutes ago, Harry Pristis said: I believe these flatfish are soles. I've seen too many of them in freshwater rivers for it to be an accidental occurrence. I think a freshwater stint is part of their life cycle (like Anguilla), or they may be a dwarf species that lives permanently in freshwater. I've never seen one larger than a few inches. They didn't do well in an aquarium for me. Much agreed, I live in Arcadia about 40 miles upstream from charollete harbor, and catch these guys in my flea rake dad gum near every scoop. These are not regular flounder, right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digit Posted February 22, 2017 Share Posted February 22, 2017 I concur with all stated above in Harry's post. Been a while since I've encountered one. Seems like when I did they were pretty common so it may have been something like a recruitment pulse with lots of little ones inhabiting the Peace at the time. Also, never saw them bigger than a quarter and all just about the same size to either max size for a small species or all juveniles around the same age. Cheers. -Ken 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doushantuo Posted February 22, 2017 Share Posted February 22, 2017 Great report,well documented. Me like. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peace river rat Posted February 22, 2017 Share Posted February 22, 2017 15 minutes ago, digit said: I concur with all stated above in Harry's post. Been a while since I've encountered one. Seems like when I did they were pretty common so it may have been something like a recruitment pulse with lots of little ones inhabiting the Peace at the time. Also, never saw them bigger than a quarter and all just about the same size to either max size for a small species or all juveniles around the same age. Cheers. -Ken Seen em up to 3 inches in the peace in arcadia. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Dente Posted February 22, 2017 Share Posted February 22, 2017 The fish that minnbuckeye has is probably a true flounder. It is left eyed (both eyes on the left side). Most flounders that can be found in the Florida are left eyed. The small flatfish found in the rivers are hogchokers (Trinectes) and lined soles (Achirus lineatus). Both are right eyed. I've found hogchokers well over 100 miles upstream in North Carolina streams. During drought years flounder will also go far upstream. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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