400 Invasive Suckermouth Catfish Dumped From Aquariums in Texas River

Over 400 fishes dumped from aquariums have been found in San Marcos River in Texas. The name of the species found is plecos or suckermouth armored catfish which is endemic to South America.

Discovery of the Invasive Fish

In the beginning of January, scientists from Texas A&M and Texas State universities caught about 406 invasive suckermouth armored catfish from a Texas river, according to a Facebook post by Texas Parks and Wildlife.

These fishes are originally natives of freshwater habitats in Costa Rica, Panama, and tropical and subtropical South America but were found in texas after they were dumped from aquariums, as per News Week.

The algae-eating tank cleaners also known as plecostomus or plecos belong to the largest family of catfish known as Loricariidae. They are capable of surviving outside water for about 20 hours and are said to increase rapidly.

This species possess bony plates which covers their bodies and looks like armor. Their adaptative characteristics make surviving quite easy for them and this can lead to rapid increase in population.

In a 2011 statement, Gary Garrett, a fisheries scientist, and Director of Watershed Conservation at Texas Parks and Wildlife Department said: "They take over important habitats such as springs, push out and replace native species (including listed species and species of conservation concern), decimate native vegetation, and undermine and destabilize banks," according to Smithsonian Magazine.

The Cost of Invasive Species

There has been a regular increase in the cost of invasive species in North America for the past 50 years, the initial cost was $2 billion per year.

But there was a massive increase in this cost to about $26 billion in 2010, also the invasive species are disadvantageous since they are predators to endangered or threatened species according to research.

Researchers fear the creature might threaten species like Devils River minnows inhabiting San Felipe Creek in Texas which could lead to population decline.

The 400 suckermouth armored catfish found in the san marcos river will be put to death for research purposes as researchers plan on working with this fishes in order to find a way to reduce the massive increase of their population, Monica McGarrity, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department's senior scientist for aquatic invasive species said to Catherine Ferris of Newsweek.

Efforts to Study the Movements of Suckermouth Armored Catfish

For further studies on the movements of the suckermouth armored catfish, researchers placed tags on some of the fishes in San Marcos. This would help them study the activities of these fishes inorder to make more efforts towards reducing the amount or quantity.

"A lot of time people purchase plecos for their fish aquariums to clean the bottoms of the fish tanks and the sides and keep algae out of the fish tanks, and they don't realize they can get up to two to two-and-a-half feet long," Melissa Bryant from the San Antonio River Authority stated.

Though they are not yet prohibited in texas, their current management is focusing on creating awareness for aquariums to reduce dumping of these fishes in rivers.

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