Florida's Exotic Freshwater Fishes

A LIST OF EXOTIC FISHES COLLECTED FROM FLORIDA FRESH WATERS^{1,2 Compiled by Paul Shafland, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.} REPRODUCING FISHES (n = 32) Established (n = 22; permanent populations; i.e., populations unlikely to be eliminated by man or natural causes and from which individuals can be regularly collected).
1	Brown Hoplo	Hoplosternum littorale	Callicthyidae
2	Bullseye Snakehead	Channa marulius	Channidae
3	Oscar	Astronotus ocellatus	Cichlidae
4	Butterfly Peacock³	Cichla ocellaris	Cichlidae
5	Black Acara	Cichlasoma bimaculatum	Cichlidae
6	Midas Cichlid	Cichlasoma citrinellum	Cichlidae
7	Rio Grande Cichlid⁴	Cichlasoma cyanoguttatum	Cichlidae
8	Jaguar Guapote	Cichlasoma managuense	Cichlidae
9	Mayan Cichlid	Cichlasoma urophthalmus	Cichlidae
10	Redstriped Eartheater	Geophagus surinamensis	Cichlidae
11	African Jewelfish	Hemichromis bimaculatus	Cichlidae
12	Blue Tilapia	Oreochromis aureus³	Cichlidae
13	Mozambique Tilapia	Oreochromis mossambicus ³	Cichlidae
14	Blackchin Tilapia	Sarotherodon melanotheron ³	Cichlidae
15	Spotted Tilapia	Tilapia mariae	Cichlidae
16	Walking Catfish	Clarias batrachus	Clariidae
17	Common Carp	Cyprinus carpio	Cyprinidae
18	Suckermouth Catfish	Hypostomus sp.	Loricariidae
19	Vermiculated Sailfin	Pterygoplicthys disjunctivus	Loricariidae
20	Sailfin Catfish	Pterygoplicthys multiradiatus	Loricariidae
21	Pike Killifish	Belonesox belizanus	Poeciliidae
22	Swamp Eel	Monopterus albus	Synbranchidae
Possibly Established (n = 10; reproducing species not considered to have achieved the status of permanence; i.e., populations that might be eliminated by man or natural causes).
1	Croaking Gourami	Trichopsis vittata	Anabantidae
2	Firemouth Cichlid	Cichlasoma meeki	Cichlidae
3	Jack Dempsey	Cichlasoma octofasciatum	Cichlidae
4	Yellowbelly Cichlid	Cichlasoma salvini	Cichlidae
5	Eastern Happy	Haplochromis callipterus	Cichlidae
6	No Common Name	Theraps hybrid	Cichlidae
7	Oriental Weatherfish	Misgurnus anguillicaudatus	Cobitidae
8	Spotfin Spinyeel	Macrognathus siamensis	Mastacembelidae
9	Clown Knifefish	Notopterus chitala	Notopteridae
10	Variable Platyfish	Xiphophorus variatus	Poeciliidae
FORMERLY REPRODUCING (n=11; illegally introduced populations intentionally eliminated by man indicated by an asterisk*).
1	Climbing Perch	Anabas testudineus	Anabantidae
2	Siamese Fightingfish	Betta splendens	Anabantidae
3	Twospot Ctenopoma	Ctenopoma nigropannosum	Anabantidae
4	Trahira	Hoplias malabaricus	Characidae
5	Pirambeba*	Serrasalmus humeralis	Characidae
6	Convict Cichlid*	Cichlasoma nigrofasciatum	Cichlidae
7	Threespot Cichlid*	Cichlasoma trimaculatum	Cichlidae
8	Redbelly Tilapia*	Tilapia zilli	Cichlidae
9	Guppy	Poecilia reticulata	Poeciliidae
10	Green Swordtail	Xiphophorus helleri	Poeciliidae
11	Southern Platyfish	Xiphophorus maculatus	Poeciliidae
REPORTED FISHES (n = 43; species collected without evidence of reproduction).
1	Banded Gourami	Colisa fasciata	Anabantidae
2	Thicklip Gourami	Colisa labiosa	Anabantidae
3	Dwarf Gourami	Colisa lalia	Anabantidae
4	Kissing Gourami	Helostoma temmincki	Anabantidae
5	Paradisefish	Macropodus opercularis	Anabantidae
6	Pearl Gourami	Trichogaster leeri	Anabantidae
7	Threespot Gourami	Trichogaster trichopterus	Anabantidae
8	Cascarudo	Callichthys callichthys	Callichthyidae
9	Corydoras	Corydoras	Callichthyidae
10	Northern Snakehead	Channa argus	Channidae
11	Tambaqui (Pacu)	Colossoma macropomum	Characidae
12	Pirapatinga	Piractus brachypomus	Characidae
13	Black Tetra	Gymnocorymbus ternetzi	Characidae
14	Banded Leporinus	Leporinus fasciatus	Characidae
15	Silver Dollar	Metynnis hypsauchen	Characidae
16	Red Piranha	Pygocentrus nattereri	Characidae
17	Redeye Piranha	Serrasalmus rhombeus	Characidae
18	Blue Acara	Aequidens pulcher	Cichlidae
19	Speckled Peacock³	Cichla temensis	Cichlidae
20	Pearl Eartheater	Geophagus brasiliensis	Cichlidae
21	Banded Cichlid	Heros severus	Cichlidae
22	Freshwater Angelfish	Pterophyllum scalare	Cichlidae
23	Banded Tilapia	Tilapia sparrmani	Cichlidae
24	Red Tilapia³	Tilapia hybrid	Cichlidae
25	Tinfoil Barb	Barbodes schwanefeldi	Cyprinidae
26	Goldfish	Carassius auratus	Cyprinidae
27	Grass Carp	Ctenopharyngodon idella	Cyprinidae
28	Malabar Danio	Danio malabaricus	Cyprinidae
29	Zebra Danio	Danio rerio	Cyprinidae
30	Bighead Carp	Hypophthalmichthys nobilis	Cyprinidae
31	Black Sharkminnow	Labeo chrysophekadion	Cyprinidae
32	Rosy Barb	Puntius conchonius	Cyprinidae
33	Dwarf Barb	Puntius gelius	Cyprinidae
34	Tiger Barb	Puntius tetrazona	Cyprinidae
35	Raphael Catfish	Platydoras costatus	Doradidae
36	Ripsaw Catfish	Pseudodoras niger	Doradidae
37	Granulated Catfish	Pterodoras granulosus	Doradidae
38	Bristlecheek Catfish	Ancistrus sp	Loricarridae
39	Arawana	Osteoglossum bicirrhosum	Osteoglossidae
40	Black Molly³	Poecilia hybrid	Poeciliidae
41	Redtail Catfish	Phractocephalus hemioliopterus	Pimelodidae
42	Barred Bichir	Polypterus delhezi	Polypteridae
43	Swai	Pangasius sutchi	Schilbidae

Note: For a printable guide to some of these freshwater exotic fishes, see the Exotic Fish Identifier Sheet (546 kb; PDF; with photos) and fast facts or ExoticFishID (205 kb; PDF with drawings).

¹ Most names of fishes follow Robins, et al.(1991 and 1991a).
² Definitions of exotic, established, possibly established, reported and transplanted follow those adopted by the American Fisheries Society at its 1984 Annual Executive Committee Meeting in Providence, Rhode Island; and as given in Shafland and Lewis (1984). ³ Name given does not agree with or species not listed by Robins, et al.(1991, 1991a). ⁴ Technically a transplant since its natural range encompasses a portion of southern U.S.A. (Texas).
Paul L. Shafland, Non-Native Fish Research Laboratory, Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission, Boca Raton, FL.

Last Updated: February 2004.

Take Me Fishing.org is a great general information site for recreational anglers and boaters.

Florida Fishing Capital of the World--Great Resources, Responsible Management