Cichlids an invasive species? Who knew?

[JohnnyReb]

How about the Alligator Gar ? They get huge and can probably eat anything .

Yes, you are correct. Gar are a bass predator. Alligator gar are normally only in extremely large, deep lakes and I have seen them 8 feet long. Correct they are a predator but bass are extremely quick and gittery and seldom venture into deep water. Gar are like sturgeons they require a pretty specific habitat.

 

[JohnnyReb]

They have their greedy little eyes on the Moon and Mars don’t they ?

Ask the Indians?

 

[Back in the fold]

Ask the Indians?

I live in Indian Country here in Montana and just 15 or 20 miles north of the Crow Reservation’s northern border and only 40 miles from Custer Battlefield . You ask Indians that question and you better have a folding chair with you . The answer will take a while .

 

[JohnnyReb]

I live in Indian Country here in Montana and just 15 or 20 miles north of the Crow Reservation’s northern border and only 40 miles from Custer Battlefield . You ask Indians that question and you better have a folding chair with you . The answer will take a while .

Also you need to be sure you can run.

 

[Rusty_Shackleford]

It’s astounding that, despite all of the publicity surrounding invasive species, people still think releasing non native animals is the best solution when they have lost interest in them. I regularly see people online talking about releasing red eared sliders and bull frogs that they no longer want.
In southwestern Minnesota, there is a city park with a large pond that I visit every couple of years. It used to have a thriving population of native leopard frogs. I visited over the summer. I saw very few leopard frogs- but hundreds of non native bullfrogs (which eat smaller species of frogs). I’m guessing someone bought some bullfrog tadpoles, and thought releasing them was a good idea.
RIP Leopard frogs.

It gets worse. Fish are a known carrier of Chytrid fungus which is deadly to amphibians. So someone potentially dumping an aquarium fish into a native water source could wipe out an entire population of native frogs, toads, salamanders, newts, etc

 

[anewbie]

It gets worse. Fish are a known carrier of Chytrid fungus which is deadly to amphibians. So someone potentially dumping an aquarium fish into a native water source could wipe out an entire population of native frogs, toads, salamanders, newts, etc

But humans were carriers of small pox and polio.

 

[OldFishKeeper]

Oh man, this thread definitely to a turn...

 

[JohnnyReb]

It’s astounding that, despite all of the publicity surrounding invasive species, people still think releasing non native animals is the best solution when they have lost interest in them. I regularly see people online talking about releasing red eared sliders and bull frogs that they no longer want.
In southwestern Minnesota, there is a city park with a large pond that I visit every couple of years. It used to have a thriving population of native leopard frogs. I visited over the summer. I saw very few leopard frogs- but hundreds of non native bullfrogs (which eat smaller species of frogs). I’m guessing someone bought some bullfrog tadpoles, and thought releasing them was a good idea.
RIP Leopard frogs.

I agree, BUT, there is nothing as good as having 8 to10 frog legs for supper.

 

[JohnnyReb]

But humans were carriers of small pox and polio.

Just look at this way if it were not for small pox they would still be speaking Mayan, Aztec and Incan in Central America and South America?

 

[gwand]

The Europeans gave the indigenous Americans small pox but the indigenous tribes gave Europe syphyllis. Sounds like a fair trade to me.

 

[JohnnyReb]

The Europeans gave the indigenous Americans small pox but the indigenous tribes gave Europe syphyllis. Sounds like a fair trade to me.

The origin of syphilis is debated still. There is good evidence that it originated in Africa prior to 1493.

 

[fishorama]

Near me there's a geyser that spews hot water daily. Someone added some African cichlids & they continue to grow & repopulate the pools. Luckily it's a limited "habitat" & they can't spread.

I hadn't known syphyllis was considered a new world disease or even an African 1. Interesting ideas on who brought what diseases to whom. Now with jet traffic we can be exposed to all kinds of nasty diseases from everywhere quickly...good times?

 

[JohnnyReb]

Near me there's a geyser that spews hot water daily. Someone added some African cichlids & they continue to grow & repopulate the pools. Luckily it's a limited "habitat" & they can't spread.

I hadn't known syphyllis was considered a new world disease or even an African 1. Interesting ideas on who brought what diseases to whom. Now with jet traffic we can be exposed to all kinds of nasty diseases from everywhere quickly...good times?

That is why Covid spread so quickly, planes landed all over the world before China said anything.

 

[GaryE]

Swinging back to plecos, we could see the Channa effect. Snakeheads are illegal here, but they had to ban the entire Genus. There is no way every border guard could be trained to recognize each individual species, to say which ones were the dangers, and which were neat aquarium fish. If it looked like a northern snakehead, it became illegal.

That is unfortunately sensible, because if the importing industry were given the responsibility of identifying the species to import them, experience shows they will cheat. Money comes first.

If the half dozen Loracarid species that pose a real threat were blaklisted, the many that are harmless could be too. Our hobby still calls Ancistrus/bristlenoses 'plecos', so how could you expect every customs person to learn the difference? Most fishkeepers won't take a few minutes to learn what the difference between a species, a breed, a hybrid and a variety is. Many don't know what the fish they have are named, in any language. And hobbyists are supposed to be the ones who care about the fish.

It's 2025 today, but in some ways our hobby is still in 1825. It'll be interesting to see.

 

[OldFishKeeper]

Near me there's a geyser that spews hot water daily. Someone added some African cichlids & they continue to grow & repopulate the pools. Luckily it's a limited "habitat" & they can't spread.

I hadn't known syphyllis was considered a new world disease or even an African 1. Interesting ideas on who brought what diseases to whom. Now with jet traffic we can be exposed to all kinds of nasty diseases from everywhere quickly...good times?

Howdy neighbor! I didn't know the Geysers were added to the "Plant List". I am doing my part in not spreading diseases...I no longer fly anywhere .