Think I found invaders in our river! Are they native?

[Fishkeeper]

I was just down at the San Gabriel river, and I found a Petsmart fish bag in the water. Never good.
I called the store and gave them the bag's fish ID number, and it turned out it was 24 feeder goldfish. So either someone put 24 goldfish in the river, or they used the bag they had on hand to transport the fish I saw moments later. Two large blue fish, one male, one female, digging out a nest site.
I looked them up, and they're apparently Theraps lentiginosus, AKA Big Blue Chichlids. Also, these are native to an area somewhere near us, although I'm pretty sure they were introduced. Can anyone tell me if I should be concerned, or if these guys are okay to have in the river? I lost track of them, I'm not sure if I could possibly catch them... Although people fish there, I'm thinking someone might catch them.

[talldutchie]

Ah.. the irresponsible morons are everywhere.

Feeder goldfish shouldn't be an issue. Theraps lentiginosus might be, it's a cichlid that will breed quite a lot.

I'd advice you to see who's responsible for that part of the river and inform them.

[steeler58]

Call the Fish and Game department.

[Fishkeeper]

I'm actually not sure that they don't belong there... I found out that they actually live in South Texas, is it possible that they've gotten up here to Central Texas? I just want to make sure I don't start up a big fuss for something that won't be that much of a problem.

[kim92]

They are an invasive species in the United States. It is known that they are in the Southern States. Call someone about them if you want to. But they probably already know they are there.

[talldutchie]

Fishbase lists them as "Central America: Atlantic slope, in the Grijalva and Usumacinta River drainages in Mexico and Guatemala."

There's nothing wrong with a call during office hours to fish and game "hi, don't mean to cause a panic but I'm 99.9% sure I saw a central american cichlid species in the river" Something like that.

[Fishkeeper]

Okay, thanks, I'll definitely go do that!

EDIT: Does anyone have a number for Georgetown or Austin fish and game services? I can't seem to find it anywhere online...

[talldutchie]

This any use?


http://www.texasinvasives.org/pages/contact.php

[Fishkeeper]

Yes, thanks. I sent them an Email telling them what I saw and the near-exact location, right down to about a ten-by-thirty-foot section of shallow river. If they do send someone, I think a seine net would catch the blues fairly easily.