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Article: EELS - THE NEWEST MENACE IN FLORIDA.(News)
- Article from:
- Seattle Post-Intelligencer
- Article date:
- February 16, 2001
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2001 Seattle Post-Intelligencer. All rights reserved. Reproduced with the permission of the Dialog Corporation by Gale Group. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Biologist Leo Nico, a burly man in his 40s, is talking about the Asian swamp eel, South Florida's newest - and some say most threatening - alien resident ever.
Nico is showing a visitor around his lab in Gainesville, where he works for the U.S. Geological Survey. Alien fish, especially the swamp eel, are his meat.
The 3-foot, olive-brown eels have no natural Florida enemies. Always hungry, they eat minnows, tadpoles and insects, the food supply of native fish, reptiles, amphibians and birds. Like a few other aquatic species, they start out as males and turn into females, ensuring the survival of the species. In South Florida's mild climate, they ...