Asian swamp eels invade N.J. lake
They can feed in or out of water, they have no known native predators and they’re so adaptable, they’ve made it to New Jersey.
They’re Asian swamp eels, a troublesome species the Division of Fish & Wildlife has pulled from Silver Lake in Gibbsboro by the hundreds since learning about them in the spring. The fish have made themselves at home in the small lake near the old Lucas Paint Factory (downstream, there’s a Superfund site). There’s a concern they’ll hurt or displace native species in the lake, which include largemouth bass, bluegill, black crappies and carp, and eventually spread.
The agency believes they may have originated in someone’s aquarium.
I walked Silver Lake on Thursday with fisheries technician Eric Boehm and principal fisheries biologist Chris Smith as they stunned the swamp eels with an electric fishing device and pulled them out of the water to be destroyed. Here’s the video.
| Asian swamp eels in Silver Lake |
More: Slippery predator invades a lake (Star-Ledger)
September 25th, 2008 at 9:59 am
I have an aquarium that I keep eels in. Can I get 1 or 2 of these eels before they are destroyed. I know the dangers of releasing them into the wild, and I would never do that. I’m a, rfesponsible, 57 yr old, engineer/scientist.
Thanks,
Joe
862.368.5888
September 25th, 2008 at 10:51 pm
yuk. how strange. i was just reading a story about the non-native boa constrictor being a problem in the florida everglades.
in other natural world news… all the freshwater mussels have been dying off in the NY lake i’ve grown up swimming and playing in. it’s very sad as i always thought of this lake as being pristine.
will our environment ever recoup from man’s intrusion…?
September 26th, 2008 at 5:42 am
“will our environment ever recoup from man’s intrusion…?”
OF course it’ll get along fine once it gets rid of us. we just have to obset it just a little more………………………….