Marsh Madness 2015: Swamp Sixteen

A bit behind schedule due to "rain delays" in the sawgrass fields of play (i.e. I'm just now getting to it. Not sure if it's actually rained out in the 'Glades the past two days. We'll just assume it has). Anywho, the Round of 32 is done and gone, and with only 2 voters many of these matches came down to a coin toss game of chance. You have your bracket below for SWAMP Sixteen. A review of the matchups:



Vertebrates:
Alligator 1 vs. Anhinga 9: An easy win for the alligator despite little interaction between the two animals: one basked, one dried its wings. The real competition was between the two side's cheerleaders: Allie and Anne.
Snook 5 vs. Roseate Spoonbill 13: The spoonbill sneaked through using its charisma and mistaken identity as flamingo to its advantage.
Green sea turtle 6 vs. American crocodile 3: I really have nothing to say about this game.
Ibis 10 vs. Florida panther 2: Wow! I think the voters/teams mistakened this matchup for UM vs. FIU. The panther's home-field advantage quickly became a disadvantage when, just like FIU football games, nobody showed up to support them.

Invasives:
Feral cat 16 vs. Blue tilapia 8: The feral cat continues its surprising progression through the bracket. Most though the blue tilapia had it in the bag: the feral cat just put it in its belly.
Brazilian pepper 5 vs. Mayan cichlid 4: The fishes were eradicated with this loss, making all of us wonder how the Rehage and Trexler labs will carry on.
Old world climbing fern 6 vs. Island apple snail 3: This was a mean game between two nasty teams... though it wasn't the fastest-moving.
Water hyacinth 10 vs. Green iguana 15: Again, no commentary here.

Primary Producers, etc.
Sawgrass 1 vs. Bald cypress 8: The sawgrass continues to show why they are the face of the River of Grass.
Floc 5 vs. Seagrass 4: A slight surprise that this amalgamation defeated the charismatic and highly protected seagrass.
Spikerush 6 vs. Periphyton 3: No surprises (just note that periphyton won unanimously, and I wasn't the only voter [nor was the other voter my mother]).
Bladderwort 7 vs. Red mangrove 2: Again, no surprises. The primary production group isn't much fun to cover as a sci-sport writer.

Invertebrates:
Alligator flea 1 vs. Lubber grasshopper 9: No contest, as the grasshoppers took one look at the alligator flea's ferocious mandibles and hopped onto the main park road in suicidal defeat.
Halloween pennant dragonfly 5 vs. Upside-down jellyfish 13: I thought the jellyfish would pull an upset here, but I suspect that the Everglades Insect Coalition paid off the refs to make it an insect-exclusive Invertebrate class. An inquiry is ongoing.
Crayfish 6 vs. No-see-um 3: Gar, of course they would get through.
Grass shrimp 7 vs. Mosquito 2: And these guys, too - goodness. I thought the shrimp's spastic defense would be too much for the mosquito's relentless offense. It was close, but a near-standstill isn't what I would call exciting.

Voting is now open for the Swamp Sixteen matchups, with the updated bracket below:

SWAMP Sixteen