Fighting an Armored Invasion
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- Опубликовано: 8 окт 2022
- Some fish tank friends have become an ecological enemy. See how introduced suckermouth armored catfish are affecting the pristine San Marcos River, and meet those working to control this invasion.
Full Episode: • PBS Show - Armored Inv...
Texas Parks and Wildlife Episode 1, Season 38, Program 3101
When to watch on Texas PBS stations: tpwd.texas.gov/newsmedia/tv/t...
#conservation #snorkeling #wildlifeconservation #texaswildlife #texasoutdoors #outdoors #texas #wildlife #catfish #tilapia
That is one of the cleanest rivers in an urban area that I have ever seen. Keep up the good work of preserving such a valuable resource.
It's completely Spring fed is the reason. Go take a look at Aquarina Springs.
Clear doesn't mean clean, murky waters are normally murky due to silt and other particles in the water. If the water wasn't clean, they would be wearing protection, such as a diving suit, it wouldn't matter if it was murky or clear.
@@TheCutiePatrol You are 100% correct about water clarity. Clear does not mean clean or even safe.
The wetsuits, I suspect, are more about staying warm and protection from scrapes and bumps.
@PhilJonesIII some wetsuits are designed to stop pollutants from getting to the skin, some are even designed for even more toxic substances but you'll rarely see them. Even modern wetsuits, for the average person are having developments to stop water pollutants from getting to the skin. But yes, they are mainly used to keep the user warm.
If you ever seen a diver in a thick rubber looking diving suit, that's to stop pollutants.
The San Marcos River is one of the most beautiful environments I've ever seen, comparable to ocean reefs. It must be protected.
Unfortunately, stores like Petco and Petsmart sell plecostamus and so many get big (8 - 10+ inches) and outgrow popular 5, 10, 20 gallon fish tanks. The stores don’t tell buyers, so they buy a cute 1 inch fish and after a year or so their little baby algae eater has outgrown their tanks, and the big box stores won’t take them back. So what is your average person to do? The pet stores ought to have signs that clearly state that these fish get big. These fish also make a mess of aquariums when they get big because they like to dig. Privately owned fish stores often will take these fish and resell them, also pond stores will take fish for resell, but again people don’t know. Sometimes you can actually get a few bucks for your trade in. People need to do their homework when they buy a living creature. That said a plecostamus would not survive in just any body of water in the US as they can’t survive cold water. The San Marcos River is spring fed so it stays about 70 degrees year round, so these tropical fish can adapt to that. You won’t find these fish in most of the Texas rivers and lakes, just ones that are spring fed and stay constant temperature year round.
For anyone who wants a plecostamus that stays smaller (3 to 4 inches) buy a Bristlenose plecostamus instead of the other varieties. There are a huge variety of Bristlenose plecos. I have a pair in my large aquarium that are a beautiful orange color. Do your homework people.
In the wild, these plecos can get as big as 20 inches, often they don't in aquariums but they still commonly attain 15 inches. It's believed bad husbandry is the reason they are roughly 5 inches shorter in aquariums. Still 15 inches is a huge fish and expensive to house properly.
The stores maybe don't tell buyers but buyers are retarded cuz they buy something they don't know..
People won’t do their homework, they don’t even know how to google right, they think it’s okay to wing it
as a petsmart employee, I can tell you that we DO tell them. We arent even ALLOWED to sell plecos to less than a 90 gallon at my store. People often lie about their tank size so they can get whatever fish they want, then they deliberately release them. It sucks. we even carry clown plecos, which max out at 5” and they STILL try to fight me for the big ones. 😅
They need to sell the smaller ancistrus species.
Bro… I’m born & raised in Hawai’i. Your pole spear skills are excellent.
Invasive fish from clean water make excellent fertilizer. Fish emulsion is $20 a gallon.
Omg the smell though 🤢
@@lawlzbroseph9040 You ever heard of blood and bone meal?
You guys should use what we do to breed Plecos in the hobby but as a way to keep them from undercutting the concrete banks and to get them in a place that's easy to catch them. They are nocturnal so they like tight dark places, we use PVC pipe for this, you could use cinder blocks larger diameter PVC pipe. Personally I'd make a trap consisting off a largish dark container with a number of 2 inch PVC no longer than a foot with a typical fish trap inverted cone maybe badminton birdies, this will entice them to enterer especially if you bait it with some stinky algae wafers. Check daily and you'll be removing thousands a week
Could be a food source as well if good eating or sell for fertilizers.
@@williamstevenson5534they’re the worse for eating lol, too hard to cut into, fertiliser maybe tho
@@williamstevenson5534 Could part of the local cuisine, tasty catfish. In Florida, when there, a nice portion of lionfish for the entree to go with the Burmese python for the mains. Must be something just as appealing for afters.
@@henkmagnetic3103
Pleco arent that kind of cat fish.
Theyre too boney.
@@jenson1569 Pet food?
Stop releasing your plecos, people!
No one has released plecos in the San Marcos for decades. They're breeding
Fortunately, there is a pet drop off (fish, turtle, snakes, etc.) at the San Marcos Discovery Center to provide an alternative to dumping them into the river www.sanmarcostx.gov/2798/Pet-Fish-Drop-Off-Adoptions
Just don't forget about the apple snails
Never heard of them. Are they invasive? That will be impossible to remove.
didn't see any in the video.
There aren't any in the San Marcos. I think you are thinking of Melanoides
@@erickborling1302yea, they're like apple sized and produce hundreds of poisonous eggs at a time
Or the Banana Slugs , and the freezer Roaches …..
I knew Nick and his brother back in college. Really cool dudes, great people. It's pretty awesome to see Nick is still spearing invasive species, and has grown his operations. The San Marcos river is beautiful, clear, and pretty chilly. Floated and kayaked it plenty of times myself.
As a Texan who grew up on this river let me just say y'all are doing a great job at conservation on this water way.
if owning a home wasn't so expensive in Texas I'd live there. the San Marcos river looks absolutely beautiful. damn plecos.
They weren't always. Sold mine there and might move back if that situation changes drastically in the next decades. Beautiful rivers and southeast Texas is basically Florida without the crazy.
@@beyondfubarbullshit... Austin is in Texas bro
If your experience is that it's too expensive than I question if you're an adult since nationally speaking TX is very low on the list for cost of living comparatively.
@@coronalight77 I'm sure there are areas that are very cheap. San Marcos is not.
Blame the idiots on tiktok and instagram who made thousands of videos saying real estate was cheap
Good luck with that. Thanks for your efforts
Houston Bayous are teeming with them. They are everywhere along with tilapia. A few buddies and me bow fish for them. We've taken hundreds out of a pretty small stretch of bayou only to come back the following week to it being filled again, It's crazy.
This makes me sad and angry. Especially as I live here... Stupid people dumping their pets into the wild... not just fish. I found a parakeet about a year or so ago eating at the outdoor bird feeders with the wild sparrows. One place I go hiking has a pond and I am always seeing bright orange goldfish in there which were obviously dumped since that pond doesn't connect to anything.
I would love to catch one of those big fish. I have an empty 50 gallon tank that would love a fish. :) I keep my fish until they die which is how the tank ended up empty. First Herman died then Fishy died. They were 6 and 8 inches long respectively when their life ended. They were about an inch long when I got them. - Heidi
Yeah. It's very very frustrating to hear nincompoop aquarists talking irresponsibly about how putting their fish "back in nature" is just fine.
Look at florida, they have to worry about huge wild pythons now because stupid people are allowed to own animals
Fortunately, there is a pet drop off (fish, turtle, snakes, etc.) at the San Marcos Discovery Center to provide an alternative to dumping them into the river www.sanmarcostx.gov/2798/Pet-Fish-Drop-Off-Adoptions
That spear is very e-fish-ient
That water looks so clean
Spring fed/created.
It's partly BECAUSE of the Plecostomus, same as invasive Zebra mussels have cleaned up many lakes, ying-yang
Thank you for getting them out
This is a very interesting program. I'd never have thought those were aquarium fish, but that makes sense. Maybe there needs to be some kind of public messaging around what a pet owner should do if they can't take care of their fish anymore. The people letting them go probably think this is better than killing them.
It's a problem with all sorts of fauna bought as pets.
I'm guessing that people think, "it's only a fish, what could possibly go wrong", if they think at all about releasing exotic species into a local habitat.
The problem is that people new to the aquarium hobby will stock their tank with cool looking fish that may be an inch or two long, without doing any research.
They may get an algae problem and so will see that such and such a species eats algae, which is just the job! Plecos are commonly bought to help keep the tank clean of algae, and look interesting. That fish grows too big for the tank, and you see the results of what may happen in this video.
Pet stores need to take responsibility for educating customers, but hey, as sale is a sale and it's not their problem when a river gets an invasive species problem 😟😟
Fortunately, there is a pet drop off (fish, turtle, snakes, etc.) at the San Marcos Discovery Center to provide an alternative to dumping them into the river www.sanmarcostx.gov/2798/Pet-Fish-Drop-Off-Adoptions
Great work!
As a fellow spearo with dreads, I thought that was me in the thumbnail almost!😂 keep it up
All I could think about was how nasty bros dreads must be if he dives like that all the time.
I feel the same about you when you talk. how nasty you must be whenever you go talking.
the answer is very
Unless he takes care of them which he probably does. You realize people with dreads can wash them daily, right?
@@Kelly-ju1kw in swamp water yea
@@THESLlCKhahaha
i work in the san marcos river !!! awesome
People dump the fish when they get tired of cleaning the tank smh
Fortunately there is a pet drop off (fish, turtle, snakes, etc.) at the San Marcos Discovery Center to provide an alternative to dumping them into the river www.sanmarcostx.gov/2798/Pet-Fish-Drop-Off-Adoptions
when I was in college I played football at a school that played against texas state and we stopped at that river for lunch and a walk through, it was a cool river, hate to see it get ruined.
I attended SWT/Texas Sate University there in San Marcos. LOOOVE LOOOVE that small town and river.
great video!
Props to anybody soing environmental work in Texas and the south in general. Y'all are legends for that.
Please keep looking after this stunning urban river. Seems like you are collectively doing an awesome job. If everyone had their own bit of nature that they cared about our relationship with the planet would be completely different. I try to look after the River Wandle in London, which is now clean and has trout in it, bit for many years was toxic and dead.
We run the biggest invasive knockout tournament in Florida to get these guys! (Dustin and Sawyers nonnative Knockout) Can you let me know who the best point of contact is with your department there in Texas? Thanks
Design a trap. Even though baiting algae eaters is tough just the right shaped shelter might be enough.
Have an enticing tunnel with a camera and funnel entrance. They can be monitored remotely and only raised to release the good fish and remove the bad.
Trap doors could be triggered remotely to select only the bad fish and it can be like a video game you play at night all dry and warm.
You could sell the rights to the trap.
People can keep the Tilapia and turn in the plecos.
Kids might like fishing for their dinner without the mosquitoes and worms.
Making it fun and feeding people should keep it going.
If not start a rumor that Pleco meat cures baldness,burns fat and stops ED.
The Upper San Marcos River is protected critical habitat due to several threatened and endangered species. This limits what suppression or removal methods can be used, as well as budget limitations. Spearing is relatively cheap, very selective and limits disturbance to the protected species.
Looks like a ball!! I believe your setup is a Gat-ku rig. They make very nice stuff that holds up.
Cleanest urban river I have ever seen.
Beautiful program. Ty for your great service. BEST of luck.
That is very cool
Went to Aquarina Springs in san marcos as a kid. One of the springs is so large/powerful that it was capped and diverted. Was odd and beautiful to see where a river actually starts and the size and depth of the water there at the park makes where theyre fishing in this video seem like a little creek . Go have a look for yourselves, Aquarina Springs.
Tell me why… from the corner of my eye, I didn’t see the dreadlocks, but rather an octopus or a lionfish grabbing onto his head. Legit.
Ya'll need those Skorkls. You can essentially stay submerged for up to 5 minutes. No need for bulky scuba gear.
Cool program guys. Similar problem in rainbow river down in Florida. Except it’s very protected and no fishing allowed, but would very much benefit from something like this…
I know one thing my customers don’t survive, cold temperatures below freezing they will die. I know that firsthand goldfish can handle freezing conditions.
Great delicacy in my country, the texture and taste are great.
Whats the av temp of the water?
68° year round
What a great story!! So great to see something that totally flips the "Texas redneck" stereotype on its head. Here's smart, motivated Texans actively protecting their cecosystem and employing all kinds of science to get the job done. Excellent! Keep up the good work!
Saw the title and saw the picture and immediately thought we were being attacked underwater by sharks with freaking lazer beams on thier heads 😅😅
He looks like Woogie from "there's something about Mary "
I went to a local pond recently to get bait and ended up catching 5 armored catfish over a foot and a half long biggest was a little over 2 foot
This looks fun, I would just do it for the exercise.
I gotta admit. This looks fun. I mean, not the deep water, but plenty of the spearfishing is in the shallow waters.
I pulled out about 14 last week in the RGV
Awesome
I bought 2 of these from WM for my 100 gallon fresh water aquarium Probably 3-4 inches long? I moved my aquarium outside and they froze to death. They were approximately 14 inches long and that was 3 years ? after I bought them.
Those plecos don’t just eat algae, the bigger they get the less algae they will eat. They become omnivorous the older they get.
Armored catfish are also in the Harris County Bayous, too, and the water is not nearly as clean. Invasive species are a problem throughout the South. Look at Florida with the pythons, boas and iguanas. Louisiana has a problem with nutria.
My god look at how clear that river water is
Are these what are known as Pleco's in the aquarium world??
Yes, they're Hypostomus plecostomus, also known as suckermouth catfish or more commonly as plecos.
I wish you guys would talk to FWC here in Florida here in Central Florida Silver Springs one of the biggest Springs in Florida is infested with those things they dig a big huge holes in the bank and cause the trees to fall in.
Are you doing the same thing on the Guadalupe River?
No, just San Marcos and Comal Springs and Rivers, but San Felipe Creek in Del Rio also has some suppression efforts in place as part a similar research program. Other programs exists in Florida as well and if this research continues to be successful it will hopefully branch out to other states.
what's the music at the beginning?
That track is called Moonshine Shimmer by Al Lethbridge from the album The Road Less Travelled.
What a great job. It’s lovely to see an urban river that isn’t full of rubbish and litter.
As well as invasive fish, invertebrates and plants we have turds in our rivers in the UK
These are a problem in Florida too.
Your pole spear is actually called a Hawaiian sling. I used one for many decades.
Calling it a catfish is strange....its clearly a sucker.
Yup South America
Did the local river had otters living in it once? Reintroduce them if if it did
They used to be more common in the 1950s, but now otters are actually returning to the San Marcos river www.kvue.com/article/life/animals/san-marcos-river-otters/269-0222dc8d-df29-4674-9020-387eda11333f
same as here in Jakarta Indonesia and many place here in my country its been strike by that fish.. 😢
Being an aquarium and fish breeding hobbiest, it's disappointing seeing people be this irresponsible. This is the exact reason that some species start getting bans and we can no longer keep them.
The only fish I ever released into a local water from an aquarium were a few largemouth bass and bluegill I caught from there.
Have you ever seen a male bluegill or other American panfish in an aquarium? They're beautiful and no heating required.
great vid, and such a great Idea. But what about Electrofishing? Or would it not allow you to remove enough fish? The great thing about that method is fish are all caught alive, and can easily be put back. Allowing you to select out the Catfish.
The amount of shock it would take to electrofish tilapia or armored catfish could also kill the endangered fountain darter which is very small and delicate. The Upper San Marcos River is protected critical habitat due to several threatened and endangered species. This limits what suppression or removal methods can be used. Electrofishing anywhere would also require a TPWD scientific collection permit. Spearing is very selective, limits disturbance to the protected species and helps with removal of these fish from crevice habitats.
508 came from my tank… 😂
They do this in Korea with LMB.
Is there a bounty? This would be an awesome vacation if there was a bounty...
Yes, there are bounties www.atlasenvironmentaltx.com/bounty
@@texasparksandwildlife ill be there later this summer!
Plecs, yep a big problem globally actually. They are wild in Japanese waters too.
Plecostomus are sold as algae eaters. Didn’t expect any negative effects if they got out. I’d imagine our last hard freeze would wipe them out. They can’t handle cold whatsoever.
The San Marcos river near the headwaters where this was filmed is 72° year round. The spring fed lake is less than 100 yards from where they were filming. Even on the coldest of winter days you can jump in the water and be fine. And you can see the steam come off the water from the temperature difference.
It was disappointing that the video didn't explain why this species is a problem and what their impact on the habitat was.
Unless I blinked and missed it. lol
is the removal of algae impacting other species? If so which species.
Would hav ebeen nice to know,
@@pencilpauli9442 They also mentioned they burrow under the ledges of the roads etc, but I’m sure that’s happening naturally from the flow of water.
@@marshmellow3110
Thanks.
Guess it's possible that the activity of the plecos is disturbing any loosening of the concrete caused by natural erosion, and thus accelerating the process?
Make a glorified fish trap with a pond grown square of algae . That water is very clear. I’m sure they would smell it and enter it. They like to burrow, probably push past a swing gate like a lobster trap.
The Upper San Marcos River is protected critical habitat due to several threatened and endangered species. This limits what suppression or removal methods can be used (i.e. electrofishing or trapping). Spearing is very selective and limits disturbance to the protected species.
Hey, I am free diver, just moved back to Texas from South East Asian anyway I can help?
You could enter in one of their annual spearfishing tournaments, but there's also bounties on these fish year-round. You can try reaching out to Atlas Environmental if you're interested in volunteering www.atlasenvironmentaltx.com/
If these guys were to be successful solving the problem, they’d also be without a job…
Huh, surprised they didn't just build a wall out of razor wire and circular saw blades....
My aquariums could use a few of those beasts
Sell them back to the aquaria trade ... they're listed at $24.99 each (plus shipping) ...
It is actually called a plecostomus
Suckermouth catfish, or "armored catfish," and plecostemus, are the same exact thing. Just Google it....You don't think the PhDs that study these fish and the ecosystem they're in know whhatt they're called? Lol. You're funny. Got a lot to learn
Tldr
You mad bro?
Corydoras are also armored catfish
We need help with the armored catfish in Florida
Alaskan here. Northern Pike were released into the freshwaters of the Kenai peninsula. Whenever one is found, we sterilize the river way to kill off the invasive species and release native fish back in to repopulate after
"sterilize the river way" ... sounds ominous. Just how is that done?
@@RoySATX chemicals are poured into the river far upstream and it kills off everything going down. New trout stock is introduced after. It’s done AFTER the salmon run so the new hatch isn’t interrupted. But yeah it sucks. Northern Pike are devastating and don’t belong on the peninsula.
The Upper San Marcos River is protected critical habitat due to several threatened and endangered species. This limits what suppression or removal methods can be used. Spearing is very selective and limits disturbance to the protected species.
They are called plecos
Downstream i would see the biggest armored catfish at Thompson island.
Hunt also for their eggs, they lied the eggs in a deep hole and its has orange colour and look like a grape fruit
a Tournament set up to kill as many invasive catfish would be a fun idea.
These taste so good curried with dumplings
That is a different species of armored catfish pleco are almost inedible being very muddy tasting and smelling like stagnant pond water
I'd sell them in my grocery store btw, sign me up for an environmental program
Everyone will pay in the end for their irresponsibility, in this stream as well as anywhere, non-indigenous creatures are released into the wild.
Yes... but do they taste good? Deep fry or bake? ... my answer to exotic species
Exotic species can be tiny or large. And, not easily caught. So... no it is not the answer.
San Marcos and New Braunfels are filled with Plegostomus.
Send in the robots!!!!!
Those fish are doomed......the predator is after them.
Somebody tell the skin diver he has a bigger problem than sucker fish. He has a big octopus stuck on his head!
South Florida waterways and canals are loaded with these Plecostomos
Wow we are OVERWHELMED by this type of catfish in Florida waters- we need this kind of removal here now
the problem with America it seems like, is that they create an issue like this: only to put "experts" at solving it but the day they have solved the issue, their work is no longer required...
So there is never any incentive for them to truly find a fix, as they don't do the work to preserve their country, but to sustain their work and have an income.
Why are pet stores allowed to sell these things in the first place???
For now, it's not against the law. But there is a pet drop off (fish, turtle, snakes, etc.) at the San Marcos Discovery Center to provide an alternative to dumping them into the river www.sanmarcostx.gov/2798/Pet-Fish-Drop-Off-Adoptions
What a stunningly beautiful urban river!!! You ought to come see what England is like now. Filthy and filled with thousands of litres of raw sewerage being pumped non-stop for DAYS AT A TIME into our stunningly gorgeous rivers, making the water so poisonous and polluted that swimming dogs almost die and humans are told to stay away unless they too want to risk death. And as for urban rivers and canals. Google how long someone lasts after they fall into The Thames in London. Spoiler: it's not due to cold shock. I feel embarrassment on behalf of the people living in the UK.
Instead of spearfishing, has anyone tried fish shocking with selective removal? I've helped shock fish and yes you would need to be aware of recreators as the water looks pretty clear and you would need to jack your amperage up, but as you went along the shoreline underwater, so many of those plecos (unless not susceptible to shocking) would have been easy net pickings behind an electroprobe. Just thinking out loud as discussions are needed around invasives mgmt. I'm in the midwest so asian carp are big on our radar
I personally would not. Fountain darters are an endangered species of fish the live only towards the headwaters of the San Marcos and Comal Rivers. The farther down you go the river, the less likely they are to be there, but they do make habitats out of slower moving corners and shallows of the river.
The amount of shock it would take to electrofish tilapia or armored catfish could kill the endangered fountain darter which is very small and delicate. The Upper San Marcos River is protected critical habitat due to several threatened and endangered species. This limits what suppression or removal methods can be used (i.e. electrofishing or trapping). Electrofishing anywhere would also require a TPWD scientific collection permit. Spearing is very selective, limits disturbance to the protected species and helps with removal of these fish from crevice habitats.