Guppies living wild in Germany

[Martinspuddle]

Yep read right.

Turns out from what I understand, this stream called Gillbach, a tributary of the river Erft in Germany.

The water is artificiality kept warm year round by thermally polluted cooling water from a Niederaussem Power Station, near Cologne.

Enjoy.

[fr499y]

wow! considering how the water is fed, they certainly seem healthy!

[LookoutTrout]

So you can have cichlids in a community tank!

[black ghost]

They get everywhere. There used to be a colony in the River Lea flowing through Hackney, until the old coal power station was switched off and that stretch of the river cooled down.
There was also a colony in the St Helens canal, and could be caught from St Helens to Chorley, warmed by the Pilkington Glass factory, until it too was closed down.
Fishbase has records of similar wild guppy populations in Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Czech Republic, Albania, Hungary and Russia. And they’re just the European ones... there’s hardly a country that doesn’t have them.

[black ghost]

The River Lea population of the 1960s apparently only survived because the river was so polluted that the only fish in it were guppies and sticklebacks. In the 70s the river was cleaned up and the returning native species put an end to the guppies.
The St Helens canal population wasn’t just guppies. In 1963 a local shop went out of business and the lovely owner dumped all his fish into the canal. For years there was good fishing for guppies, mollies, Swordtails, Angels, Oscars, “Catfish” (probably plecs and black bullheads), and a thriving population of Tilapia zillii (now Coptodon zillii). There were still terrapins there in 2010......

[plankton]

It doesn't surprise me, but I do despair at peoples' disregard for nature and their local species.
Mind you, there won't be many mosquitoes about.

[mikeyw64]

on a related note (about invasive species)

[Martinspuddle]

on a related note (about invasive species)

Shocking!

[BigBen]

There has been a couple snakeheads caught in the last couple of years in the Taunton/Bridgwater canal. None for a little while so hopefully it was just the two!

[black ghost]

The way the weather’s going, we might not need fish shops in a few years. They’ll be selling dry goods and fishing permits.