What The!

[rawprawn]

What sort of fish is this? It looks very African to me and it seems we have them running free in a cooling pond in VIC . Go to the attached link.

http://fishnet.com.au/forums/viewtopic.php..._post_id=262089

[Burek]

Ya... to me it looks like a type of mbuna, especially the 2nd picture, i can see eggspots on it.

hmmm

[MikeWs Fish]

Were they caught form the lake or were they being used as bait?

[cirulis]

Hardly running free....But yeah they are in vic. The only reason they are in there is because the water is warm and suited to them. There are mostly devils, firemouths and a whole bunch of hybrids.

Those in the pic are cross breed africans i would say.

[rawprawn]

Don’t know but they do look fresh fat and healthy. It could also be a gag I'm not real sure.

[Burek]

Damn thats not good.

Devils, firemouths and hybrids of cichlids shoudint be in the lake at all, i wonder who would be so stupid to put them in there at the first place.

[Gav]

just do a google on hazelwood and cichlid and you will get heaps of info on the feral fish there. they have been there for years.

[Burek]

oo i never knew that!

[rawprawn]

Incredible. Report below from The Australian Society for Fish Biology

Hazelwood Pondage rivals Lakes Victoria and Nicaragua for cichlid diversity?: Until recently Hazelwood Pondage, a warm-water effluent pondage for the Hazelwood power station in the LaTrobe Valley contained self-sustaining populations of the South American convict cichlid (Archocentrus (Chichlasoma) nigrofasciatus), and the African cichlid spotted Tilapia (Tilapia mariae), first reported in 1980. Both species were still present during a survey in March 1994, along with carp, goldfish (Carassius auratus), Gambusia (Gambusia holbrooki), and the native short-finned eel (Anguilla australis) and Australian smelt (Retropinna semoni). In February 2000 two additional exotic species had become established: the South American blue acara (Aequidens pulcher) and a potential cross between African Lake Malawi cichlids Labeotropheus sp. and Pseudotropheus zebra(?). More recently in April 2001, the Central American Red Devil from Lake Nicaragua (Amphilophus (Cichlasoma) labiatus) was also discovered, with a breeding pair and nest observed, and young fish from earlier spawning also present. The last three species require final verification against published keys. Contact: Tarmo Raadik.

[danpri]

I think I heard Tropical SALTWATER species Summer holidaying in Lake Illawarra have become "feral" due to the increased water temps there, not a new thing either. Maybe someone has stats on this?

[rawprawn]

With the advent of global warming I may end up having my toes nibbled by a red devil down my local creek before the decades out.

[John McCormick]

Hi Rawprawn and others,

The cichlids in Hazelwood pondage at Morwell power station are very real and not a joke at all. They have been in there for many years and have no chance of extending out beyond the lake, there is a river that runs out of the lake but the water turns cold very quickly in Victoria so it is extremely unlikely that any fish would survive more than a few hundred metres (maybe) downstream.

The VCS has had a couple of day trips to the pondage and has caught more cichlids than you could point a stick at.

Whilst we cannot and do not condone the release of cichlids into Australia's waterways under any circumstances, the fact is they are there and it is a bit of a novelty to catch wild caught cichlids.

Some of the convicts, red devils and mariae are the best coloured that you will see anywhere.

You can find a report on one of our trips.

Here.

John.

[cirulis]

With the advent of global warming I may end up having my toes nibbled by a red devil down my local creek before the decades out.

It will take longer than 10years for the creeks, rivers, lakes in Vic to warm up 10 degrees. Highly doubt it will happen in our lifetime. gotta be careful in NT and queensland though....people breed plecos in dams up there...just imagine if they got out.

[r.d.m]

this bodes ill for getting more species on the permitted import list , thousands of responsable people punished by a handful of idiots

[rawprawn]

I seem to remember they thought cane toads would never migrate south due to the temp also. I wouldn’t underestimate mother nature and with the advent of global warming somebody may need to consider cleaning out that pond in the future.

I must admit I would love to see the place and catch a few myself.

[Gav]

i disagree that this will impact the list. these things have been wild for nearly as long as there has been a list so its not like its anything new.

I would say of more consequence to the list is the blatant disregard of the list of recent times and the arrival of over 100 new species of cichlid in the last couple of years. to me that is much more of a reason for concern than fish many years wild in a dam they can't get out of.

[cirulis]

I seem to remember they thought cane toads would never migrate south due to the temp also. I wouldn’t underestimate mother nature and with the advent of global warming somebody may need to consider cleaning out that pond in the future.

True....buts its a bit different with fish, cane toads are a hell of alot more adaptable. The average temp of melbourne water would be roughly 16-17 degrees in creeks rivers etc. For the temp to rise by 6 degrees minimum its gonna have to get alot hotter outside.... and we would have alot more serious issues to worry about. I would be more concerned about our native fish.

cheers

[Ducksta]

The reason ferals do so well there though is that no natives will compete in that water. It is just too hot for fish which would normally live in Victorian rivers. I'm not saying its a good thing, but IMO the cooling pond would be lifeless if nothing was introduced.

I also agree with Gav on what would be more detrimental to the expansion of the legal import list. I don't believe the inhabitants of the Hazelwood ponds would be disregarded because of their presence (in fact some of those species are legal). However, I do believe the constant disregard for 'the list' and quarantine procedures by people illegally importing fish is more likely to push the decision makers away from expanding the list.

edit: Have a look at the size of the lures those little zebra(crosses?) hit! True testament to the aggression of the fish

[Ged]

Some great information on the issue from a NSW perspective can be located at

Noxious and Pest Species in NSW - Cichlids

I agree that whilst the likelihood of them become entrenched in NSW is unlikely but it enough of a threat for Tilapia species to be classified as a Class 1 noxious species.

Gerard

[slinky]

hi, has anyone got a link to some pics of the cichlids from hazelwood, like some of the red devils. i would like to compare the ones of hazelwood to the ones ive seen around sydney. thanku

slinky

[E4G13M4N]

i disagree that this will impact the list. these things have been wild for nearly as long as there has been a list so its not like its anything new

I have to disagree with you there Gav as this is the very reason why the Exotic fish act is under review as we speak. Big changes are on the way

Unfortunately nothing is concrete yet as per usual govt changes will be a few years down the track.

Fisheries have reports of up to 2-4 new exotics found yearly that has been released, that is their claim and the reason those fish may be targeted first for the new noxious list when it does get finalised.

I saw the first draft of proposed noxious fish and its not a very pretty one.

1 flaw in the list was a heap of fish not even in Aust. but because they are feral else where, will be added so they cant ever be included on the import list.

[Peter_Gun_Riff]

id love to go down their for a fish although its not a good thing id love to pick up a nice female RD to go with my male