plecostomus in ponds

[guppymax]

I put some Ancistrus, bristle nose plecostomus in one of my cinder block molly ponds last summer. I may have to drain the pond some time and see if they are still there. There was an article in the Houston Chronicle about the Hypostomus plecostomus living in bayous of Houston but when I tried to link to it it had expired. What a shame they always throw out the good stuff.

Is anyone keeping "tropical" catfish in ponds in Houston?

max

[SCOTT]

Re: plecostomus in ponds

If you can figure out where these are Max, we can grab the bait nets and go grab us some.

[semper]

Re: plecostomus in ponds

i had cut out the article when it came out in the chronicle, who knows where i put it, i think it was buffalo bayou.  you could actually see the holes they dug to use as their primary residences.  they had a picture with several plecos ranging from about 8" to some over a foot and a half.  wish i could find it.

[guppymax]

Re: plecostomus in ponds

They are close to a park over there around the U of H. That sounds like a LHA field trip to me Scott. Let me know if you find the article semper.

max

[SCOTT]

Re: plecostomus in ponds

God knows I have the tank space for about 30 or 40 of em, hehe. Be kinda nice to get some cleaned up and ready for my pond.

[guppymax]

Re: plecostomus in ponds

Well I hope you are a good fisherman because I want some too.

max

[Mzungu]

Re: plecostomus in ponds

Anyone see the article in yesterday's paper? In the sports section in the Houston Chronicle they had another article about plecos in local waters. I thought it was pretty interesting, and kind of funny the way the author described what a pleco looked like...Sounded scared...

I'm not sure I remember correctly, but I think they said that the majority of the species that are popping up around here are Snow King plecos? I can't remember the scientific name, but it surprised me that the commons weren't the most abundant.

[Philistine]

Re: plecostomus in ponds

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/outdoors/4065463.html

[PhishPhreek]

Re: plecostomus in ponds

Excerpts from the artical.

“And they got there when people who had kept them in aquariums released them into those waters…….But plecos can grow too large for their tanks, or aquarium owners tire of their hobby. The fish often get dumped into the closest water.”
"If people wouldn't release their aquarium fish, it would help a lot," Culbertson said.

Perhaps the author has forgoten that everytime the bayous flood, hundreds of aquariums and ponds get flooded also.  

I lost my fish room and all my tanks to a Huricane..... but at least they didn't survive long because they were released in saltwater.

[Philistine]

Re: plecostomus in ponds

good point

I know that when White Oak Bayou and Vogel Creek came out of their banks during Alison, many houses around Inwood Forest had 6 feet of water in them.

[Armadillo_Del_Rio]

Re: plecostomus in ponds

That article sounds like a dumb down rip off from an earlier article concerning the san antonio river plecos, almost word per word. Well times ah changin' and so make way for the armadillo del rios, texas bred river plecos, adios endemic fish... which is sad, but what can you do?

if looking for the san antonio one online:

el.erdc.usace.army.mil/elpubs/pdf/ansrp-v04-1.pdf

[guppymax]

Re: plecostomus in ponds

I tried to read that but it was a little confusing. Does Armadillo del Rio mean only the fish ( Hypostomus? in Figure 3 has eight spines ) from the San Antonio Zoo or is that a common phrase referring to a number of families. Did the phrase Armadillo del Rio originate in San Antonio?

Do you know if the fish close to the U of H are Hypostomus, Pterygoplichths, or Ancistrus?

Do you know about any fish close to Waugh Drive and Buffalo Bayou?

How/when could we catch these fish if they are in burrows. That looks like a minnow seign in Figure 1.

max

[Armadillo_Del_Rio]

Re: plecostomus in ponds

I belive most plecos in the pond are Hypostomus And Liposarcus, same as in the bayous
They are the most common plecos to be thrown out into waterways.

And Yes that fish in Fig. 3 is an Armadillo Del Rio, it is a mutated form of the plecos,  that were introduced to SA river almost 50 years ago.

Most of the plecos that were brought over in the 50-60's were your common PetCo/Petsmart brand Hypostomus. I think it got mixed in with Gibbys (Sailfins), and the larger Snow Kings.

When They drained the river near the spring you could finds dozens of all sizes and types. And I never heard of the name outside of the SA area.
So i belive it is a San Antonio Nickname.

There is a pic of one here, a Liposarcus pardalis:

http://www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/species.php?species_id=88

There was this in an another article:
"Armored Catfish

Al Cofrancesco, ACOE, talked about suckermouth and sailfin catfishes. A research project in the San
Antonio River of Texas provided the impetus for a larger project. Armadillo del rio has been
documented in the United States since the 1950s." . . .

"San Antonio Channel Improvement Project

General Reevaluation Report
black  bullhead (Ameiurus  melas),  yellow  bullhead  (Ameiurus  natalis),  channel  catfish
(Ictalurus punctatus), Armadillo del rio (Hypostomus spp.), western mosquitofish (Gambusia
affinis),  Amazon  molly (Poecilia  formosa),  sailfin molly (Poecilia  latipinna),  guppy
(Poecilia reticulata), redbreast sunfish (Lepomis auritus), green sunfish (Lepomis cyanellus),
warmouth (Lepomis gulosus), bluegill (Lepomis macrochirus), redspotted sunfish (Lepomis
miniatus), spotted bass (Micropterus punctulatus), largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides),
Rio Grande cichlid (Cichlasoma cyanoguttatum), blue tilapia  (Tilapia aure),  Nile tilapia
(Tilapia nilotica), red belly tilapia (Tilapia zilli), and young-of-year tilapia (Tilapia spp.)"

[guppymax]

Re: plecostomus in ponds

I suppose that if we collect some it will make no difference because more young ones will survive so they will do the same amount of damage to the banks and plants. Still it is better to not return any to the water.

Maybe the prettiest ones are in San Antonio but the gasoline is expensive so we might try our luck here locally first. I have read about and heard about the location close to the U of H for a long time and we collected at Hunting Bayou without finding any so I favor the U of H location.

The location at Buffalo Bayou and Waugh Drive might make a good location for our picnic so we might consider collecting twice. It is up to our committees really.

I have heard that it is best to collect when it is cool that the fish burrow in the mud while it is hot. When do you think it will be cool enough to collect and what do you think is the best method? Are you going to be our guide?

max

[Ellen]

Re: plecostomus in ponds

Yeah, how do you get em? Giant zucchini slices?

All the pictures I see is of people knee-deep in muddy muck. Fun fun fun!!  

Ellen