Ql0hEUggnF- TPWD Fishing December 7, 2017 They also out-compete and overwhelm native species of fish.

Armored Catfish dig burrows like these which destabilize banks, increase erosion, and increase water turbidity.

Scientists suspect the armored catfish may have caused population reductions in a native species called Devils River minnows that live in San Felipe Creek in Texas, per a Texas Parks and Wildlife post. Invasives also harm native wildlife per the National Wildlife Federation, “approximately 42 percent of threatened or endangered species are at risk due to invasive species.” In the 2010s, that number spiked to over $26 billion.

In the 1960s, invasives cost an average of $2 billion per year. The cost of invasive species in North America has increased in the past 50 years. “In no way do they have any redeeming qualities.” “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.” Gary Garrett, a fisheries scientist and Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s Director of Watershed Conservation, said in a 2011 statement. All of these factors combined made their population explode, causing problems for Texas rivers. The fish has armored skin and no natural predators in Texas. Plecos grow rapidly and can survive out of water for more than 20 hours. “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 tells KENS5’s Sue Calberg. The fish are popular among aquarists because they eat algae in tanks. The catfish, also called plecostomus or plecos, are native to South America, Panama and Costa Rica, but were introduced into numerous water bodies in Texas after people dumped them from aquariums. Researchers from Texas A&M and Texas State universities pulled 406 invasive suckermouth armored catfish from the San Marcos River in Texas earlier this month, per a Texas Parks and Wildlife Facebook post.

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