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Cichlids an invasive species? Who knew?

gwand

gwand

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I got back from a tour of the Everglades this morning. A wonderful habitat. We saw about 25 alligators and all sorts of birds like Ibis and several varieties of herons. What amazed and saddened me was the large pools of non native Oscars, Chichlasoma urophthalmus and Parachromis managuensis. I dropped a piece of bait into the water and a feeding frenzy of about 30 mature Oscars appeared. If you want free Oscars just take a trip to the Everglades. The state of Florida will thank you. But beware because the Everglades is filled with large invasive python and boa.
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gwand said:
I got back from a tour of the Everglades this morning. A wonderful habitat. We saw about 25 alligators and all sorts of birds like Ibis and several varieties of herons. What amazed and saddened me was the large pools of non native Oscars, Chichlasoma urophthalmus and Parachromis managuensis. I dropped a piece of bait into the water and a feeding frenzy of about 30 mature Oscars appeared. If you want free Oscars just take a trip to the Everglades. The state of Florida will thank you. But beware because the Everglades is filled with large invasive python and boa.View attachment 357870View attachment 357871View attachment 357872View attachment 357873
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I cannot understand the mentality of some people. Releasing any non-native thing into the wild is not humane, it is a recipe for disaster. This can result in an ecological threat and and invitation for authorities to restrict importations of any kind.

I wish people would think of the potential results of their actions.

In recent years, there have been reports of an alligator in a San Francisco park and a piranha in a lake in Marin County, CA.
 
OldFishKeeper said:
I cannot understand the mentality of some people. Releasing any non-native thing into the wild is not humane, it is a recipe for disaster. This can result in an ecological threat and and invitation for authorities to restrict importations of any kind.

I wish people would think of the potential results of their actions.
Click to expand...
You are so correct.
 
I explored a stream in Orlando - above a waterfall an aquatic plant paradise with 3 species of native livebearer, and wonderful fish overall. Below the falls, not one plant, but dozens of huge plecos - 18 inches plus that hobbyists had dumped. No other fish, no plants - a mall parking lot of a habitat.

I hate to say that was on the hobby, but it is.
 
The town where I was born was home to major glass manufacturing. The cooling water used in the glass factory was discharged into the canal, spraying out through nozzles. This canal had water at tropical temperatures, and contained tropical fish of various types. It was rumoured that a fish store owner emptied his tanks in there when closing down. Fortunately for local wild life, there was no problem as they couldn't survive in this tropical temp water.
The factory closed a long time ago - float glass killed the market for sheet glass - and the site is now a supermarket. I have no idea what happened to those fish.
 
Tilapia and Oreochromis are the big invasive, wiping out species with abandon where the worst invasive species, Homo sapiens, has been introducing them.
Fish farming and ship's ballast have really wreaked havoc on natural species.
Here, the southern invasives die in winter, but all summer, they grow faster than natives and compete for food. That can affect winter survival - an issue with turtles.
Plecos have provided a lot of ammunition to groups like PETA, who campaign to ban the aquarium hobby. Any fish that outgrows aquariums and gets dumped is a terrible thing.
 
GaryE said:
Tilapia and Oreochromis are the big invasive, wiping out species with abandon where the worst invasive species, Homo sapiens, has been introducing them.
Fish farming and ship's ballast have really wreaked havoc on natural species.
Here, the southern invasives die in winter, but all summer, they grow faster than natives and compete for food. That can affect winter survival - an issue with turtles.
Plecos have provided a lot of ammunition to groups like PETA, who campaign to ban the aquarium hobby. Any fish that outgrows aquariums and gets dumped is a terrible thing.
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Agreed...it was bad enough when quagga muscles were "accidently" brought in to North American waters in the ballasts of ships, seriously affecting water supplies and fishing.

Now, we have actions by "hobbyists" that can adversely affect everything else.

I fear for the future of our hobby.
 
gwand said:
I got back from a tour of the Everglades this morning. A wonderful habitat. We saw about 25 alligators and all sorts of birds like Ibis and several varieties of herons. What amazed and saddened me was the large pools of non native Oscars, Chichlasoma urophthalmus and Parachromis managuensis. I dropped a piece of bait into the water and a feeding frenzy of about 30 mature Oscars appeared. If you want free Oscars just take a trip to the Everglades. The state of Florida will thank you. But beware because the Everglades is filled with large invasive python and boa.View attachment 357870View attachment 357871View attachment 357872View attachment 357873
Click to expand...

gwand said:
on the + side, those oscars have a lot of meat on them and since it's already gotten to the point of lots of them go get a fish meal. they have nice white flesh.
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There’s two pools fed by hot springs in Wyoming that have large populations of guppies , swordtails and Convict Cichlids . They liked Yellowstone Park so much that they stayed .
 
Goldfish are also invasive in many areas.

Couple summers ago someone had caught some sort of African cichlid in a local man made lake here... I'm in Ontario Canada. Odds are it didn't last over winters, but still
 
Back in the fold said:
There’s two pools fed by hot springs in Wyoming that have large populations of guppies , swordtails and Convict Cichlids . They liked Yellowstone Park so much that they stayed
Click to expand...
Terrible. You should capture as many as possible and either give them to a lfs or euthanize them.
 
CassCats said:
Goldfish are also invasive in many areas.

Couple summers ago someone had caught some sort of African cichlid in a local man made lake here... I'm in Ontario Canada. Odds are it didn't last over winters, but still
Click to expand...
I know that Ontario has more extreme temps but, it was common for goldfish to survive winters under ice in Vancouver, BC.
 
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