Invasive armored catfish causing harm to Florida's manatees

Catfish: we'll clean you Manatee: I like being dirty!

Manatee’s are dying off due to lack of sea grasses. The lack of sea grass is due to development and herbicide spraying in bodies of freshwater, canals, etc. This is just an attempt to put blame on something that has nothing to do with the real problem. If you live here and spend time outdoors you would be well aware that these fish have been here by the millions for over three decades.

I think someone should interview the manatee and find out what they feel about this.

It's like a Mosquito that gives you a bath and doesn't break your skin

The common pleco is very destructive. And what's worse is there are smaller varieties called the bristlenose or rubberlip pleco that stay 4-6 inches max. They look way better, easy to breed, and fairly cheap. Locally owned shops don't normally sell the common pleco but chain pet stores sell it to a kid and say a 10 gallon is fine for these when they need like 120 gallon tank to keep them well

I see people are saying they doubt the plecos are stressing the manatees out. I had baby plecos in a 55 gallon aquarium. They eventually scraped the paint off the decorations. I can only imagine the irritation the manatees feel with several adult plecos constantly scraping their skin. That can’t feel good.

Gators Farms should encourage people to catch them and donate them to them. If armor catfish could be used to feed Gators at those farms. Gators Farms should be able to pick them if that person meets the amount of LBS, in order for them to pick them up. It has to been something considerable in weight.

Pet stores/ those who sell animals MUST be regulated!!! Pet stores sell these fish as algae eaters, but what they don't emphasize is that these fish grow to HUGE sizes!

Armored Catfish are native to South America in the Amazon River, where they naturally cohabitate with the Amazonian Manatee.

In México there’s a guy who’s making dog food with the catfish.👍

Dude I'm so mad. I got ejected from blue springs national park and had to argue against a fine for filling a tube full of these pests. Even the FWC officers were giving me a hard time even though I was not spearfishing, just catching them by hand.

they initially only eat algae but when they get big enough they suck smaller fish right up. I've seen that a few times.

These fish are in my area too, i am from Assam (india) . These fishes appeared out of nowhere in our district , now they are everywhere. I don't know who brought them to assam(india),but they first apeared almost 5-6 years ago.🥲🥲🥲🥲🥲🥲🥲

I feel like these arnt harming the manatees in any way. It’s easily researchable to tell what’s causing the populations to drop. It’s not the fish I’ll tell you that much.

You could argue that humans are the ultimate invasive species because we brought all the other ones to Florida.

People either need to stop releasing exotic species or the exotic pet trade needs to be illegal.

Somehow sharks, whales and rays swim around with remora stuck to them their whole lives but these catfish clean the algae off manatees and it's going to be the death of them. LOL

Hard to believe NBC, those fish are invasive yes, but I think stress by catfish is the last thing manatees have to worry about. What's the main cause of their decline, stress?, don't think so

I think the humans are more stressed about this than the Manatees. 😂

I live near st Petersburg. I have a blue eyed, lemon longfin bristlenose pleco. They only get to about 5 inches, and he's priceless really because he's such a great example of the species, so there's no way I'd let him, or any of my fish, snails, shrimp or plants get in to the ecosystem. I live right next to a nature preserve. But yes, irresponsible fish owners, just like any irresponsible pet owner, can cause major problems

It looks like they are cleaning them up!!!

She should've said flies not mosquitoes.

This is very sad. Manatee are so awesome. I have a giant pleco, but he's in an aquarium where he belongs.

Use large sized fish traps baited with algae pellets,, drop a trap in the water, wait an hour pull out empty repeat,,, Those Plecos are ravenous for algae pellets,, once catch they make great fertilizer for crops

I am very happy that these journalists cover invasive species but why do reporters have to say such stupid things like "a cross between a cat, a fish, and armor?" Try to be professional when discussing important stories.

Those plecos are great for an aquarium. Someone had to have dumped them in the water because they were too large for their tank. Its sad that they are stressing out such a sweet amazing creature.

What happens when you let people import whatever they want and keep it as a pet

A Manatee being catfished never thought I'd see the day.

Local lake in LA, i whatched in the last ten years seeing one or two every year to know seeing one every 2 feet the rate at which plecos breeed is astounding

🤔 Can you eat these catfish? If so just catch and cook. Add them to the Florida restaurant menus! Yes?

I thought they were turning plecos into fertizer? I remember watching another video on that.

As an aquarium hobbyist even I say , they’ve gotta crack down on the aquarium trade

the thumbnail made it look like the manatee was wearing an armor helmet of atlantis

They're completely harmless.

I had a 1 foot pleco in my fish tank. Came home from work, and that guy climbed out and went for a walk. He left the living room, went down the hallway, and went into a bedroom. He was still alive when i got home!

SPOILER ALERT! Plecostamus don't only eat algae, they also eat fish eggs! I used to have breeding cichlids of Rainbow Rams and Kribensis (in different tanks) and kept some plecs in with to keep the tanks clean. I kept losing egg clutches and first blamed the parents. Then checked one Night w/ a flashlite: caught two of the plecs busily sucking up eggs - parents sleeping or couldn't see it! That's probably happening in the rivers and springs where the fish Used to live. Plecostomases are just BAD NEWS ALL AROUND!

Remora often attach themselves to Manatees when they are in salt water. I doubt the plecos stress them that much. They might even appreciate the cleansing.

Break out the fishing rods men!

They look like a really primitive version of catfish, as if they haven't changed much since dinosaurs were around

There was a dead armored catfish on the bank of the hillsborough river and the flipping buzzards weren't even eating it. They tried, but the damn fish is still laying there 5 days later still undamaged!

They split that presentation up correctly.

Probably never occurred to these experts that the Manatees might benefit from it. especially in some undiscovered way.

"the manatees dont like it" manatee in footage: goes up to fish and exposes its belly (an indication it wants cleaning)

Time to hire some trained professional spear gunners

“The aquarium trade.” Get rid of it. It serves no purpose anyway. Except to introduce invasive species.

Imagine getting bullied by a fish

Aw the poor manatee swarmed as it was sitting on the bottom XD

I don't know if my comment will be read. They rarely do. But I think maybe the solution could be to create something that the algae can grow on that will attract the attention of the fish instead of the manatees?

I knew they got big but DAMN that one on the face of the manatee is insane! Unless thats a baby manatee but still.

It's humans that are hurting manatee. That's the major problem. Pollution and people releasing non-native plecos.

Bring them to Maryland. They keep our waters clean.

This is INSANE!! I’m FREAKING OUT… This isn’t right 😢

Invasive species complaining about an invasive species 😂😂

Not to mention they can live a day out of water, they are hard to kill.

I’m confused I had mine for 7 years but never grew more than 5 to 6 inches life span is 10 to 15 was mine defective

Are these "Janitor fish" too?

That's a plecostomus, and they eat algae. I find it very difficult to believe they're actually harming the manatees.

This is neither just a Florida problem nor is it just a Manatee problem. These catfish are some of the most popular in the pet trade ALL around the world anywhere there are fish keepers you will find them. Consider an Amazonian pool at the end of the dry season long since dried out and turned to soil under this dry earth you will finde them sheltering waiting fo the floods; when these waters arrive the fish are exposed to a change from dry at say 27 degrees C(Assuming day time) down into glacial run off water at say 6 C.( PH approx. 7 at source or higher due to glacial mineral content) When these pools were drying out they were concentrating the acidification caused by thousands of leaves decomposing down to a PH. of cerca 2 (or lower), acid enough to cause a tingling sensation on your hand. These natural variations in their environment meen that they have evolved the ability to live almost anywhere including short foray's out to sea ( so they follow the manatees out ). They evolved to survive any attempt to eat them from land and water based predators the amazon could offer. On one of those full size ones each extendable Gill spike will be nearly 3" ( 7cm approx) and razor sharp and they hurt so much that I think, it might be more than just a physical defence. I was spiked by a "Pet" only 12" rather than a near 3 foot wild one and I could feel it for days. Human nature Laziness, compassion and stupidity are all amongst the reasons people poot fish down the toilet or release them into the wild ,or as in florida keep them in outdoer ponds until the next flash flood washes everything away. They are the fastest speeding invasive fish on earth and need to be banned from the pet trade before they become unmanageable in more habitats. As a fish keeper myself I will continue to encourage Aquarists to speak against them in shops and clubs etc. The only way I would have one again is if I really thought that otherwise it would not be disposed of properly. Sadly a particular problem with these fish as they live for decades and will eventually outgrow all but public display sized tanks.

They are edible I hear. Just an idea if true. I'm not a fan of these being in the aquarium hobby due to them getting so big. I don't believe they should be banned, but I think it should be made clear in stores of how big they will actually get and what tank size is needed for an adult (not baby). It sounds like these particular types of pleco are just annoying the manatee while cleaning it. But I think the manatee's food source scarcity and motorboats are a way bigger threat to their lives.

The invasives at the southern border are doing more harm.

The medias journalism is equialent to the neighbor speculating why things happen.

In a fish tank pleco dont eat allergy. Pleco cling to other fish n chue them

So weird that black & white pattern is the same as the shapeshifting humans caught on camera, I can't seen any connection though.

The solution is to get them from the springs after the freezes.

I would just tell the manatees "improvise, adapt and overcome ."

A recent study indicates that every time a manatee dies in Florida, the State Intelligence Quotient drops 3 points.

Lionfish, pythons and NOW WHAT ???

Now they're going to blame Mexico as usually 😂

The world is completely out of balance

The roe of these particular catfish are highly prized and extremely expensive in Europe. Nobody takes advantage of this in Florida. Seems like a hell of a business opportunity. There are millions of pounds of them infesting Florida fresh waterways. There is a market for the smaller brown hoplo armored catfish here though.

I mean they look so clean now

Добрые великаны уже не рады непрошеным гостям, но что могут поделать...😔🙏

No one appreciates a hard work

So these catfish are basically one of those car window cleaner pushover scam that standing on red light

I had one of these on my line by Lakeland. Had a minnow on for bait. Shook out the hook before I could land it. Looked to be about 16". I'm from WI and haven't seen them before, other than in aquariums.

They actually dont just eat algea. They eat protein too. They just dont kill things its dead fish and eggs.

I knew they were going to say it was from the pet trade, as these fish are all over the place in fish stores... so I figured it had to be them getting out once I saw they were talking about Plecos. I had no idea such common fish were such a huge problem.

who's flushing plecos for freshwater aquariums down the toilet? this must be the evolution of those lil algae eaters

It’s time to start having catfish tournaments every weekend. Catfish are fun to catch too.

New story yes, but still the only think annoying them the most are humans

STOP SELLING THEM! common précis get released I’m sure after Pet stores say oh buy one! Not mentioning how big they get… It should be illegal to sell them

Manatees are too nice for this earth.

Company creates new theory. "We think that MAYBE the cleaning algae catfish stress out the cows. We think that MAYBE the cows underwater have to flick their tails and bodies like the land cows do with flies. We think that MAYBE this will annoy them and they will leave areas where we monitor them underwater. We want to create a new study about this and we need funding for this study to decide on whether our MAYBE is a PROBABLY and/or LIKELY." All this matters because you are not going to be able to wipe out these catfish, just like you will not wipe out the Lionfish. Florida is changing. Pythons, Indian peacocks, Iguana's, Lionfish, Snakefish, and everything else prove that humans change the landscapes. At some point you have to try and take back what you can with overhunting or you have be ready to realize that the old nature is gone and the new nature is here. My solution is to open up a restaurant that serves all these up and let them have teams of hunters that provide these animals as a dish and use the pelts and skins where you can.

At least those manatees are clean. Looking spotless. Don't forget horses and cows have to deal with mosquitos and flies all day and they whip their tails and shake their hides in frustration to get them off.

Only Florida would come up with how cat and fish are cousins smh

It's amazing that some people here in these comments do not understand the meaning of an invasive species. I can't believe there are idiots that think these fish are good for Florida's ecosystem. There's even an Ecologist speaking against it!

How do the catfish taste?

Pet stores will sell anything to make money, no matter how bad it turns out for all involved. There is no education until after the fact. Plecos are sold to people under the guise of cleaning home fish tanks, which they do accel at for a time, but eventually they outgrow their tanks and end up being dumped into the wild. They should be banned from being sold in the US at this point, along with many other animal species.

I wonder if they really know it's harming the Manatees or that's just something she imagines. Maybe having algae removed is a pleasurable experience for them.

Oh my God, is this really how this channel reports important things 😮

plecos eat more then just alge

A Mexican fisherman also had the same problem someone let their pet fish out. But he turned it around and turns the pleco into pet feed.

There are signs everywhere forbidding this behavior.

Fishing with a net in the river separates the fish that fell into the net and uses the fish caught to make something like food for dog and cat shelters.

Are they edible??

I wonder if the algae that grows on the Manatee's skin provides the Manatee with some sort of biological-symbiotic protection from some type of infections, or some other important relationship.

Red Road Canal , Hialeah Fl is teeming with them with 14-16" specimens ive seen while in pursuit of Pavon , Peacock Bass steps from my Home.

Fund a bounty program. $5 per catfish and see them dissappear. People will be shoulder to shoulder with fishing rods.

Foreign fish, always causing trouble! Build the underwater wall and make the armored catfish pay for it!

This Pleco problem is a huge problem in the America’s. It’s going to change our waters a lot in the next few decades.