This article was submitted by Jan Jeffrey Hoover.

Natural ponds speckle the broad shorelines of the lower Mississippi River. Inconspicuous, especially from a distance, these shallow pools of water are typically ignored by commercial fishers harvesting buffalo suckers and by recreational anglers searching for lunker bass. Instead, these small floodplain wetlands are choice destinations for dedicated nature-watchers who are eager to experience and appreciate unusual animals.

After spring flooding, receding waters of the river accumulate in low spots allowing detritus to settle and insects and newly-spawned fishes to accumulate. These puddles, packed with prey, offer easy pickings for hungry wildlife that gather in and around them. Water snakes, turtles, and bullfrogs are common and young alligators are frequently seen. Shorebirds are diverse and some are extremely abundant. Egrets, herons, and ibises are readily observed and eye-catching Roseate Spoonbills stir the muddy water. But the most prominent bird seen around river ponds are Wood Storks.

Wood Storks are late-summer residents in Mississippi. Approximately four feet in height, with wingspans of five feet, they are unmistakable in appearance with their thick bills, naked scaly heads, and black-bordered wings. Declining and imperiled in some parts of their range, Wood Storks are sufficiently numerous here to attract ecotourists. Visitors travel from near and far to marvel at these majestic birds and add them to their life lists.

Likewise, distinctive and diverse fishes inhabit river ponds, thriving in the shallow waters that may be too warm or may lack sufficient oxygen for other big-water species. Several kinds of tiny colorful fishes are particularly well-adapted for life in river ponds. Crimson-finned Taillight Shiners, iridescent Golden Topminnows, and green-flecked Banded Pygmy Sunfish, all just one to three inches in length, inhabit these ponds. They feed on the dense plankton that live there and can tolerate extremely low oxygen.

Large, ancient, air-breathing fishes also thrive in ponds. Bowfin, identifiable by their serpentine bodies and bullet-shaped heads with wide mouths of sharp canine teeth, can be found writhing in mud with just a few inches of water covering them. And gar, including Alligator Gar, are sometimes encountered. Bowfin and Alligator Gar that are spawned in these ponds during the spring will, by autumn, reach lengths approaching one foot and more than two feet, respectively. Their growth in ponds is rapid because of the high water temperatures that accelerate fish metabolism.

The most interesting inhabitants of floodplain ponds are, perhaps, the cryptobionts or “hidden life forms.” These animals lie dormant, as eggs or other weather-resistant stages, sleeping in the dry soil of the floodplain, for months or years or even decades. When rains come, and ponds fill, these animals hatch and reanimate. Most cryptobionts  – like roundworms and wheel animalcules – are microscopic and transparent, invisible to the naked eye. Some, though, are larger and easily seen, like the gill-footed shrimps.

Clam shrimp and fairy shrimp are graceful crustaceans with feathery legs that enable the shrimp to swim and to breathe. Clam shrimp, smaller and less abundant, are enclosed in two shimmering shells (hence their name). Fairy shrimp, at an inch in length, are considerably larger and exposed. The fairy shrimp of Mississippi River ponds are called Spiny-Tail Fairy Shrimp. They are the freshwater cousins of salt-loving brine shrimp, well-known for their use as food for aquarium fishes, and also of the Sea Monkeys, made famous in comic book ads. These shrimps are all showy, soft, and slow. Toothsome morsels for fast-swimming predators, they are rarely, if ever, found in waters inhabited by fish.  The two groups cannot coexist.

Professional biologists sample animals of floodplain ponds using various scopes, cameras, nets, dredges, and traps, but part of the beauty of Mississippi River pond life is that almost anyone can easily experience it with minimal equipment. All that is needed are binoculars for bird and reptile watching (from a respectful distance), a sturdy dipnet for fish catching and shrimp scooping (as close as one can get), and, of course, a pond (anywhere between the levee and the edge of the river).

Jan Jeffrey Hoover is a resident of Jackson, Mississippi. Prior to retirement, he was a longtime employee of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (ERDC). He also taught courses in Wildlife Biology, Ecology, and Evolution at Mississippi College and Millsaps College. He can be reached at hooverj@bellsouth.net.