Pipefish, Striped Bass and Hogchokers at Beczak

Did you know that there are 216 species of fish living in the Hudson River? Some are freshwater fish, some salt water fish, some prefer brackish water, and some spend part of their lifecycle in the Atlantic Ocean, and part in the river. But they all have 6 senses, which we learned about. In addition to the five we humans have, fish have an extra sense called Distant Touch. They use their lateral line to detect movement in the water.

SENSE	PEOPLE	SENSORY ORGAN	FISH	SENSORY ORGAN
Taste	Yes	Tastebuds, Tongue	Yes	Tongue and Barbels
Sight	Yes	Eyes	Yes	Eyes
Smell	Yes	Nose	Yes	Barbels, Nares (nostrils)
Touch	Yes	Skin	Yes	Skin
Hearing	Yes	Ears	Yes	Otolith
Distant Touch	No	None	Yes	Lateral line

Trying to see like a fish and find all the food of a given type. Those masks are hard to see through!



Sense of touch sorting and smell sort. Lots of fun!



Mikro says touch was easiest, and sight was most difficult.

Next, the kids learned to use a dichotomous key to identify various critters:



Northern pipefish:


White perch:


Mikro got a big kick out of being able to read the key and figure out the answers.