re: Help me out... What kind of fish are these?

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Louisiana[edit]

In Louisiana, the fish has slowly taken over the waters of New Orleans. The fish has a high salinity tolerance (up to 8ppt), but it is likely that this is caused by the interbreeding of this fish and the Herichthys Carpintis, which makes it an ideal invader for the brackish conditions of southern Louisiana.[4] It is believed that this fish has entered into the New Orleans area through multiple aquarium releases in central Jefferson Parish in 1989. Since the fish has a short mating cycle, it did not take long for the fish to make its way through the canal system and into Lake Pontchartrain.[11] Pump stations and Lake Ponchartrain aided to the spreading of the fish into other canals.

Herichthys cyanoguttatus has been present in natural and degraded habitats of the Greater New Orleans Metropolitan Area for at least 20 years.[4] The first time it was ever recorded that the cichlid had been caught in New Orleans was on June 17, 1996.[4] In May 1998, 23 of these fish were caught in a Jefferson Parish canal. Between 2006 and 2007, the number of cichlids increased significantly in sites such as Pontchartrain Lagoon, Metairie Bayou, and Marconi Lagoon.[4]

The effect of the invasive fish in the area is as of now, uncertain, but many studies have been done to figure out what exactly is going on.[4] Some of these studies have shown that this breed of cychlid has spread into Bayou St. John and City Park. The cichlid acts aggressively toward native Largemouth bass, Western mosquitofish, --sailfin mollies, and blue crabs[disambiguation needed]. This aggressiveness can occur in the form of tail beating and mouth wrestling.[12] The fish also appears to cause reproductive failure of sheepshead minnows.[4] The cichlid was largely unaffected by abiotic events like Hurricanes Katrina and Rita because of its high tolerance for salt-water intake.[4] In fact, these hurricanes actually helped the fish to take over the bayous of New Orleans. When the park flooded during Katrina, it helped the cichlid to spread.[13]

In Bayou St. John, the cichlid threatens to overwhelm native species and ruin the efforts of the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries to restore the historical fishery of Bayou St. John. Because the fish competes with native fish for shallow mating sites, it reduces the chances of the diverse fishery ever being fully recovered.[14] The fish has already eliminated several smaller fish in this bayou, including killifish and sheepshead minnows. In fact, if the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries did not routinely re-stock several midsized species, it is likely that the cichlid would have eliminated these fish too.[6] Because of this, there is even a competition at the City Park Big Bass Fishing Rodeo & Fishtival to catch the most cichlids. According to a fisherman Joe Adams, who participates in the competition, "They will eat just about anything...I know one guy who catches them with French fries...pieces of a hot dog and pieces of canned corn." Despite these efforts, there is practically no chance or eradicating this fish from New Orleans' waters mainly because of its quick mating cycle.[6]

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