CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY — The janitor fish infestation that has plagued Marikina River and Laguna de Bay has also spread to Mindanao, and is now threatening to run riot across the delicately balanced ecosystem of Asia’s largest marshland, the Agusan Marsh in Agusan del Sur.
There are currently two species of janitor fish in the country as identified by Edna Agasen, senior fishery biologist of the Department of Agriculture’s National Fisheries Research and Development Institute, with the assistance of Dr. Jonathan Armbruster, catfish expert and curator of fishes at Auburn University in Alabama, USA.
These are Pterygoplichthys pardalis found in the Marikina River and Lake Paitan in Cuyapo, Nueva Ecija; and the Pterygoplichthys disjunctivus found in Laguna de Bay (not Plecostomus hypoglosus as previously reported).
Studies indicate the janitor fish has also become a pest in other countries. Armbruster said the Pterygoplichthys species has become established in tropical and semi-tropical regions of North America, Puerto Rico, Malaysia, Indonesia and possibly other places where they were introduced. In the US, the fish does better in reservoirs and canals than in natural freshwater bodies, he said.
Marianne Hubilla, a volunteer fisheries researcher with the Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office (Penro) from the University of Philippines in the Visayas (UPV), and Ferenc Kis, a Hungarian consultant on wetland management, accidentally discovered the proliferation of the janitor fish in the Agusan Marsh while preparing a project proposal for a taxonomic survey on freshwater fish, mollusks and crustaceans in La Flora, Talacogon, Agusan del Sur last March 8.
The two were surprised to see a fisherman removing a janitor fish from a gill net, but became alarmed when they saw another fisherman landing 50 janitor fishes in San Marcos, Bunawan, Agusan del Sur last May 22.
Hubilla said Armbruster identified the species through their photographs as Pterygoplichthys disjunctivus, or the same species found in Laguna de Bay. It belongs to the largest catfish family and is native to the Madeira River drainage of the Amazon River in South America.
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CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY — The janitor fish infestation that has plagued Marikina River and Laguna de Bay has also spread to Mindanao, and is now threatening to run riot across the delicately balanced ecosystem of Asia’s largest marshland, the Agusan Marsh in Agusan del Sur.
There are currently two species of janitor fish in the country as identified by Edna Agasen, senior fishery biologist of the Department of Agriculture’s National Fisheries Research and Development Institute, with the assistance of Dr. Jonathan Armbruster, catfish expert and curator of fishes at Auburn University in Alabama, USA.
These are Pterygoplichthys pardalis found in the Marikina River and Lake Paitan in Cuyapo, Nueva Ecija; and the Pterygoplichthys disjunctivus found in Laguna de Bay (not Plecostomus hypoglosus as previously reported).
Studies indicate the janitor fish has also become a pest in other countries. Armbruster said the Pterygoplichthys species has become established in tropical and semi-tropical regions of North America, Puerto Rico, Malaysia, Indonesia and possibly other places where they were introduced. In the US, the fish does better in reservoirs and canals than in natural freshwater bodies, he said.
Marianne Hubilla, a volunteer fisheries researcher with the Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office (Penro) from the University of Philippines in the Visayas (UPV), and Ferenc Kis, a Hungarian consultant on wetland management, accidentally discovered the proliferation of the janitor fish in the Agusan Marsh while preparing a project proposal for a taxonomic survey on freshwater fish, mollusks and crustaceans in La Flora, Talacogon, Agusan del Sur last March 8.
The two were surprised to see a fisherman removing a janitor fish from a gill net, but became alarmed when they saw another fisherman landing 50 janitor fishes in San Marcos, Bunawan, Agusan del Sur last May 22.
Hubilla said Armbruster identified the species through their photographs as Pterygoplichthys disjunctivus, or the same species found in Laguna de Bay. It belongs to the largest catfish family and is native to the Madeira River drainage of the Amazon River in South America.
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