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I'm on my vacation in Tampa. Golf, beach, Tampa aquarium, a little baseball.

I was golfing at Northdale today - perfect weather. When I golf, I like to peek in the waterways. Interesting to see sunfish, bass, alligators and other fauna. On the 17th hole and a few other spots, it appeared that bass had set-up spawn sites near the banks.

At the 17th, I realized that the spawn sites were not made by bass but by a rather large (24 inch) fish that appeared to be a flowerhorn, pastel blue face with a light pink body. I may have the ID wrong but I was curious if anyone knew what these critters are?

The fish appear to guard the nest sites much like bass with their heads toward the surface and tail toward the nest. I would think that this is an indicator that predation is primarly from the top.

Young of the year spawn were very tiny, forming a cloud about 5 or 6 inches across with the fry size at 3 mm. Immature fish, up to 15 inches in length, had gathered in loose schools in a bay of the pond. Approaching the water would spook the fish but they would re-assemble facing me as if to see what I would do next.



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"To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism; to steal from many is research."
researched from Steven Wright

Nobody else has given you a response yet, so I'll just add my comments. I definitely have read about invasive tropical fish in Florida, many of which were former fish tank inhabitants. It's a sure possibility that you saw flowerhorns, as they're probably well able to adapt to living down there. I couldn't i.d. the fish, flowerhorns especially have pretty widely-varying body colors and patterns. They do get quite large, but I'm not sure if they normally reach two feet in length. Someone else's opinions would definitely be helpful here.

If I still lived near Tampa, I'd be glad to look into it. Was this a water-hazard pond you saw the fish in, or a running stream that led and was fed from somewhere?

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And when he gets to Heaven, to Saint Peter he will tell: "One more Marine reporting, Sir! I've served my time in Hell."

Sorry, I can't ID... A lot of tropical fish species are loose in Florida, especially with hurricanes and the fish farms down there. Plecs and Cichlids are, apparently, not that hard to find. It wouldn't surprise me if Flowerhorns were around.

Actually, a funny thing. I was in Florida once, and in this gift shop sort of thing. There was a magnet with of a photo of a heron that had caught a fish, perhaps a nice little picture showing the health of the local ecosystem. However, the heron had a Malawi Peacock in its mouth. I was simultaneous amused and disappointed...

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The aquarist is one who must learn the ways of the biologist, the chemist, and the veterinarian.

I reported the occurence to the State of Florida. It will be curious to see their response. Did some checking on the internet and there appears to be numerous infestations of aliens in the Tampa area.

Seems that the area was the site of a number of fish farms. Overflows led to the introduction of Jack Dempseys and blue tilapia to the freshwater drainage areas resulting in the blue tilapia becoming very common in salt, brackish and fresh water in the area. How's that for adaptability!

The Midas Cichlid or Red Devil (Cichlasoma citrinellum) also received prominent mention. Many feel that this fish is the genetic base for the Malaysian breeders who created the flower horn or Luo Han. Colors look about right and it is a substrate spawner.

Always fun to find something new on vacation!



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__________
"To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism; to steal from many is research."
researched from Steven Wright

I'm interested in hearing the response you get from the state...