‘Inland Fishes of Rhode Island’ book available at DEM

"INLAND FISHES OF RHODE ISLAND" WAS WRITTEN by R.I. Department of Environmental Management biologist Alan D. Libby and is now available for sale. / COURTESY R.I. DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT

PROVIDENCE – Inland Fishes of Rhode Island, a book depicting more than 70 species of fish found in Rhode Island’s ponds, streams and rivers, is available for purchase at R.I. Department of Environmental Management offices in Providence and South Kingstown.

Published by DEM in 2013, the 287-page book, written by DEM biologist Alan D. Libby and illustrated by Robert Jon Golder, is a definitive scientific work and the first of its kind for Rhode Island freshwater fish species.
The book contains descriptions and illustrations of each species of fish found in Rhode Island’s freshwaters during surveys conducted by DEM’s Division of Fish and Wildlife from 1993 to 2012.
Detailed characteristics used to identify each species are presented, in addition to habitat descriptions, life history information and a distribution map for each species. Scientific illustrations of each fish in color, as well as black and white, aid with identification.
“Our beautiful state hosts an incredible diversity of fish species, and we are pleased to make this new resource available for folks to learn about the habitats and habits of the variety of fish living in Rhode Island’s waterways,” DEM Director Janet Coit said in a statement.
Libby has spent 20 years surveying more than 377 ponds and stream segments throughout Rhode Island, often returning to the locations several times during multiple years.
From 1993 to 2012, more than 72 species of fish representing 34 families were collected.
The most diversity was found in the Pawcatuck River, which boasted 67 species, followed by the Blackstone River basin, which had 31 species.
The American eel and the largemouth bass were the most commonly occurring fish species. Pumpkinseed, bluegill, chain pickerel, wild brook trout and brown bullhead were also widely distributed, appearing in more than a third of the localities sampled and in at least nine of the state’s 10 drainage basins.
The book is being sold for $26.75, including tax. For information, call the Providence office at 222-6647 or the Great Swamp Headquarters in West Kingston at 789-7481. The book may also be purchased through the mail using the order form located at: http://www.dem.ri.gov/programs/bnatres/fishwild/inlandfishes.htm
Funding was provided from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Sport Fish Restoration Program.

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