The Orlando Sentinel has this report about the introduction of the South American sucker fish (Hypostomus plecostomus sp.) into Florida rivers. Plecos are popular aquarium fish, "employed" to scour the glass and gravel and keep it clear of algae. Enough have been intentionally or accidentally released that they are being netting by the thousands out of swimming areas, and have even been observed "cleaning" manatees.
5 comments:
Having been an aquarist in my youth ... I can remember reading a report from Brazil that they taste like lobster. Is that a partial solution? ;-)
BTW, I hope "feeding off" means "cleaning algae from"
Yikes! I reworded the post so people don't think they're picking manatee carcasses clean. :-)
I would be willing to eat pleco but it seems like it would not be worth the effort unless the fish were really large.
Many years ago, one of my father's fish tanks was badly infected with ick and all the resident fish died....or so we thought. We kept real plants in the aquarium and, an experiment born of laziness, we let the tank sit, unfiltered and untended, for about a year after the ick struck.
Finally, I set to clean out the tank and prepare it for new fish. Shockingly, inside the aquarium was an 11-inch long pleco, alive and well. The "sucker" had not been infected by ick and, after the passing of the other fish and the algae bloom which followed, he lived quite well and had grown quite large. Though I imagine the pleco would be too bony to generate any real excitement at the dinner table, they can get big enough to warrant eating.
Where are there articles or information on eating these guys? i saw the lobster comment, im hooked! i want to eat mine now!haha no seriously, are they edible?
Cannot find any detailed info with recipes or anything :-). That's possibly because they are not fun to catch - they tear up nets.
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