you are right Thomas, we did meet at the HCU table! DOH! I guess I meant we haven't done any business or field time together. I guess I had a brain fart! Yep, nine finger Todd, actually it's 7 1/3 fingers, two thumbs, but I guess that is subspecies, lol! I call them thumbs because, although they look similar and occupy the same habitat, there are subtle but powerful differences, like, opposablity, and size and body shape. Just razzzin' ya' dude, but I can dance! Not with the stars or anything, but I can dance. i totally get where you are coming from, and I could agree with some of your points, but I call them what I have always called them, because after studying them in the field, in depth, I realize that, although they interbreed in certain areas, there are subtle differences in each. Sure, you can raise them identically and have some success, but specks are more tied to the water than splendies, and that's a fact I've born witness to both in the field and at home. Given the option, holbrooki like it wetter, overwinter in crayfish burrows to avoid freezing temps, sometimes under water, and their prey base includes a few things splendidas don't to date, crayfish and ghost crabs.

If given the option of a moist hide, the splendies will mostly use it for shedding, but the holbrooki use it as a conditioner, constantly in and out of the water, without getting skin issues.

These are just a few of my "anectdotes' not published, but they very may will be in the near future. I am in the process of gathering data for such a paper, and no, I'm not a scientist, but I damn sure would like to be so I could get the permits required to further the studies unhindered by our current political b.s.



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Todd Hughes

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