Freshwater Fish Exhibit Stop #9

Welcome to our freshwater fish exhibit.  All of these species were collected thoughout the Everglades. However, not all of them are native to Florida.  The three species that are native are the Blue Gill, the Florida Gar, which is the elongated fish with the skinny snout and the Large Mouth Bass.  The other species found in here will include invasive cichlids. These fish became very popular in pet trades and unfortunately got into our local waters.  Peacock Bass were an introduced species in the mid 1980s and they are a  natural predator to a variety of cichlids.  Unfortunately though, we will find both the invasive Cichlids and Peacock bass here in our native waters.  

Let's continue to our Freshwater Turtle Exhibit.