The armoured catfish first reared his very ugly head in the Rio Bravo Area of Belize back in November, 2012. Now, there are concerns that the invasive species of fish may be making deeper inroads into Belize. Today the Director of Fisheries outlined the threat:..
Beverly Wade, Fisheries Administrator
"The Armored Catfish for Devil Fish; there are several names for it, is really a species that is a very robust specie. In Northern Mexico it actually displaces Tilapia, so it has that potential in places like Florida. If you do some research, it's actually the cause of a lot of - it undermines the foundation of these beautiful houses that are along water ways because it digs a hole about this big, its burrow; it digs a hole into these banks. The burrows are about 3 meters long. It's very destructive to your natural environment and it's very robust. A specimen was caught last week by a fisherman in a little bit further down south in the Rio Hondo. It is an indication that it is here in that particular watershed and there is a need for us to now put in place an action to how to deal with it."
"Our local species are already under stress by the Tilapia invasion - it competes for them like the Bay Snook and these species that naturally nest - they create nest. These fish just literally marginalize them and push them out and displace them."
In Mexico, authorities are concerned that that the armoured catfish may undermine their Cenote system.
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