> Hi, I'm new here. I'm from Belgium, so sorry if my english is bad.
> Quite a lot of American fish have been introduced in Belgium, like Lepomis
> gibbosus, eastern mudminnow, some catfish-species, black bass,....
> A few weeks ago I caught 12 eastern mudminnows and put them in my pond. Does
> someone have information about the biology of these fish or maybe about the
> damage that they cause to our European native fish.
> I already found some information on the internet, but information on the
> spawning is often completely different on each site.
> Thanks.
Hello Flash
That's probably a good start for a population. Mud Minnows are very prolific. I
started out with 24 specimens collected in Maryland and introduced them to an
outdoor liner pond in western Pennsylania in 1989. When I drew the pond down in
1994 I found about 300 specimens of varying age classes in my 20 foot X 16 foot
pond. Since these fish are not native to my drainage I have taken precautions to
prevent their spread to the wild. You should do the same since this is probably a
species that might have the potential to compete against your native fauna - do
you by chance have the European Mudminnow - Umbra krameri - aka 'Dogfish'?
The outflowing water from a pond containing non-native fishes must be directed
into some sort of dry well / soakage pit to keep fish from entering local waters.
Also the pond should not be located below flood stage of a nearby river or stream
or be in an area subject to flooding. My pond is a closed system dependent on
rainfall instead of flowing water. This is better for fishes like mudminnows and
Enneacanthus sunfishes which like soft water anyway.
I think part of the reason my population exploded the way it did was the lack of
predators. Mud Minnows are often found with fishes like Brown Bullhead catfish
and redfin pickerel which I'm sure keep their numbers down in their native
habitats.
I use my surplus as feeder fish.
Jeff
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