More news from the aquatic plant front: as reported in the San Antonio Express-News, water trumpet (Cryptocoryne beckettii) is threatening populations of endangered plants in portions of the San Marcos River in central Texas. The initial introduction of the species, which is native to Sri Lanka, is thought to have been via the dumping of the contents of an aquarium, since water trumpet and other species in the genus are used in the aquarium hobby. While known in the wild in Texas for over a decade, water trumpet did not begin its rapid expansion until the late 1990's. The remaining option to protect the river ecosystem now appears to be control, rather than eradication, for as one biologist put it, "It took us a long time to react and now we are paying the price."
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