More on Pterygoplichthys and manatees

[Silurus]

Nico, LG, 2010. Nocturnal and diurnal activity of armored suckermouth catfish (Loricariidae: Pterygoplichthys) associated with wintering Florida manatees (Trichechus manatus latirostris). Neotropical Ichthyology 8: 893–898.

[Silurus]

This is now published, and the initial post corrected accordingly.

[Mike_Noren]

Unless I'm missing something the link is wrong, it points to the description of Hypostomus peckoltoides.

[Birger]

Try this one http://www.scielo.br/pdf/ni/2010nahead/aop1610.pdf

[taksan]

Sounds like they are doing a good job keeping the Manatee's parasite free ....

[Mike_Noren]

Yes, according to reports the plecos clean them completely of their normal thick aufwuchs, but it is AFAIK unclear if that's a good thing. Also, when the manatees go to these springs they're overwintering, and constant irritation from the plecos could cause them to expend energy.

My personal suspicion is that the plecos are pretty much irrelevant to the manatees, and that the real ecological effects of having large numbers of these big herbivorous introduced fish in these springs is elsewhere.

It's interesting to hear that predators are already learning how to deal with these armored catfish. The rule of thumb when it comes to introduced species is that 90% of introductions fail, of the remainder 90% "slot in" to the existing ecosystem without causing any major upset, and only the remaining 1% of all introductions cause serious problems. I'm thinking the plecos in florida may not turn out to be in that last percent.

[crkinney]

I am far from being an expert on manatee behavior but during my many visits to Blue springs state park [the spring is 1/2mile from my home ] I have seen the pterygoplichthys drive the sea cows nuts .
In the past they got so plentyful thet the hoop net fishermen would have full nets[they bait with soybean meal in the winter] our only savior is the cold winter .Low water temp kills the cats buy the thousands.the also seek the warm springs to stay alive and they feed on the growth on the seacows ,driving them into the cold river for relief .
The temp. in the next couple of days will be about 29 deg. F.and the springs are loaded with manatees.This is something to see.
Yall have a merry christmas or happy holiday of your choice.
C.R.Kinney