In a different thread it was brought up that Sunfish and Bass are not native to the Potomoc river.....this is untrue; 3 species are native to the Potomoc, the Mud Sunfish, Pumpkinseed and the Redbreast are all native as is Striped Bass, heres the following link http://www.potomacriver.org/2012/masterfishlist.pdf .
Link to Fish species in the Potomoc river
- Thread starter warmouth
- Start date
Actually that is true. Largemouth bass are not native to Potomac River and most sunfish species are not native to Potomac River.
So far only mainly bluegills and pumpkin seeds are what the snakeheads eating but so are the rest of predators eating the sunfish as well.
So are there any studies on largemouth bass and other "native" predatory fishes has a negative effect on the native sunfish and other native forage fish of Potomac River before the snakehead?
I looked and looked and could no longer find the site where they had a 2010 or 2011 survey done on the potomoc which showed that numbers of sunfish and killifish were down while numbers of snakehead, catfish and bass were up; before the Snakehead invasion they were worried about how many young fish Blue and Flathead catfish were eating (both non-native to the Potomoc).....I think they were much more concerned about the cats than the LMB's effect on the fish fauna until the arrival of Snakeheads.
So the snakeheads weren't the ones that are increasing in the numbers? And the native fauna were already being negatively affected by the non-native catfishes before the snakehead arrival? Thank you for made my point so therefore I come to conclusion that Potomac River were too heavily altered due to the river being full of non-native fishes before we can claimed that snakeheads were bad for the "ecosystems" in Potomac River.
No Snakeheads are increasing in numbers and size they have become one of the most numerous fish in the Dogue creek area. The truth is that Northern Snakehead are a large specialized Piscavore that is a larger threat to certain species of Centrarchid than any native species including LMB's , Flatheads, Pike etc; Pike and LMB's will eat a variety of things, (Worms, Leeches, Suckers, Frogs, Tadpoles, Salamanders, Fish, Small snakes, young Ducks etc) whereas studies have shown that Snakehead mainly eat Small Centrarchids, Killifish and Topminnows; this is a huge problem considering the fact that within a couple of miles to a couple of hundred miles proximity are some fish that are rare or endangered that would be the type of prey they favor, (Mud sunfish, Blackbanded Sunfish, Roanoke Bass, Carolina and Bluebarred pygmy sunfish) as well as other species that aren't endangered now but could be if the Northern Snakehead invades those areas like the Bluespotted and Banded sunfish. Flathead specialize in bottom to Midlevel fish and Blue catish eat fish that live in the currents and channels whereas the Northern Snakehead will go into brush and weeds where the YOY fish and small centrarchids and Killifish hide to eat them. http://fishwild.vt.edu/snakeheads/Facts.html
So you were concerning about the snakeheads are eating the rare fish species but you are not concerned about the non-native predatory fishes such as LMB and catfish that will eating the rare fish species as well? Funny thing is that Flatheads, LMBs, Pikes and other non-native predatory fishes are also eating the same prey items of Snakeheads and in some areas small centrarchids are important diet for LMB and Flathead catfish. You don't think that LMB won't touch the rare centrarchids? So where is the evidence that mud sunfish or any rare fish species shows up in the stomach contents of the snakehead? The studies also showed that snakeheads also take a variety of things (frogs, snakes, ducklings etc) no different from the LMB or Northern Pike. So far I still see no evidence that the snakeheads will wipe out the rare species. To be fair, the endangered/rare species are in danger from the habitat destruction than just an old snakehead.
Also I'm still waiting for the studies about the largemouth bass and other "native" predatory fishes has a negative effect on the native sunfish and other native forage fish of Potomac River before the snakehead before we come to a conclusion that the snakeheads are bad for the Potomac River "ecosystems".
Also I'm still waiting for the studies about the largemouth bass and other "native" predatory fishes has a negative effect on the native sunfish and other native forage fish of Potomac River before the snakehead before we come to a conclusion that the snakeheads are bad for the Potomac River "ecosystems".
Right now all I see is that people just hyped up about the snakeheads so they can protect their fisheries more than their artificial ecosystem these days. And the natives are still here after the snakehead arrival.
A study was done and was concluded that Snakehead were a bigger threat to certain species of native fish than LMB or Blue catfish. I can no longer find the results of this study online......but here they talk about the study, in the link above they discuss how Snakehead have a higher percentage of fish in them from gut analysis than LMB and how Snakehead will go into brush and weeds to feed and ambush prey where other Piscavores like Blue and Flathead catfish will not go this plus the fact that they are fast growers, eat a lot and are hardy makes them a triple threat to our native fish fauna. Its not just theyre teeth and aggressive guarding of the young that makes them dangerous to native centrarchids.
http://fishwild.vt.edu/snakeheads/diet.html
I agree that Pollution and siltation have a huge impact on the Potomoc also, as well as introduced natives......but my opinion based on the research available to me is that the biggest threat to native centrarchids and Killifish/ topminnows in that part of the east coast at this time is the Northern Snakehead due to the fact that once grown they have no natural predators and they are very hard to catch with traditional fishing methods.