Restricted non-native aquatic species, listed in brown in the link box above, may only be possessed under permit from the executive director.  Prior to the issuance of such permit, the facilities where the restricted aquatic species are to be kept and waters where their use is intended may be inspected by Commission personnel to assure that adequate safeguards exist to prevent escape or accidental release into the waters of the state. 

Note that much of the information on this page was taken from Fish base and "Living Fishes of the World," by Herald, or from the "Identification Guide to the Restricted and Prohibited Exotic Fishes," which was edited by Lt. Tom Quinn for FWC.

RESTRICTED SPECIES

BIGHEAD CARP

(Hypothalmichthys nobilis)

Common Names - Bighead carp

Description - One of the "Chinese" carp.  Its eye is below the midline of the head, small scales, and a very large head, with a mottled gray appearance overall.  The ventral keel only goes from the anus to the pelvic fin insertion.  Gill rakers are not fused, rather they are long and comb-like.  The dorsal in is distinctly behind the pelvic fin insertion.

Species - Hypophthalmichthys nobilis, previously Aristichthys nobilis

Range -  Originally from China.

Habitat - Primarily a riverine species

Spawning Habits - Similar to striped bass and other Chinese carps (see grass carp)

Feeding Habits -  A zooplankton filter feeder which feeds near the surface gulping water and passing it over its gill rakers.

Age and Growth -

Potential Concerns - Is established in the Missouri  River due to aquaculture farm flooding.  They are effective consumers of zooplankton throughout their lives, which could put them in competition with many young native fishes.

BONY-TONGUE FISHES  

Family Osteoglossidae (including Arapaima gigas, Scleropages formosus, Osteoglossum ferreirai, Heterotis niloticus).

Common Names -  Bony-tongue fish, arapaima.

Description - These fish are all characterized by a landing-ramp like lower jaw with barbels and large scales .  The pelvic fins are well behind the pectoral fins and often skinny.  The dorsal and anal fins are long and ribbon-like but the caudal fin is distinct.  Arowana (Osteoglossum bicirrhosum) are the only bony tongue fish not restricted in Florida.  Illustrated above, it is somewhat typical of these fish but can be distinguished by the two long barbels on the lower jaw, along with the vertical stripe through the eye and red posterior edge to the gill plate.  Arapaima, which are restricted have a mosaic pattern to their scales, and although they have a large ramp-like mouth it is less distinct than for the other osteoglossids.

Species - 4 genera, 7 species

Range -  Circumtropical in Africa, South America, Southeast Asia and Australia

Habitat - Normally slow moving waters.  Facilitative air breathers, so they do well in very low oxygen water.

Spawning Habits - Dig nests and protect their young

Feeding Habits -  Primarily piscivores but eat insects and other prey as well, adapted to attacking their prey from below.

Age and Growth - Arapaima are among the largest freshwater fish reaching lengths of 14 feet and 440 pounds.

Potential Concerns - All bony tongue fishes, family Osteoglossidae  are restricted, except arowana (Osteoglossum bicirrhosum; illustrated above) is exempted, see photo above, due to their inability to survive temperatures below 58 degrees Fahrenheit.

DORADOS

(Genus salminus, all species)

Common Names - Dorados (not marine dolphin, the fish that sometimes is referred the same common name )

Description - Prominent conical teeth in two rows in each jaw.  Lateral line is near the middle of the body and extends onto the tail.  Streamlined, with a small adipose fin

Species - Six species

Range -  South America

Habitat - Lakes and Ponds

Spawning Habits -

Feeding Habits -  Piscivore

Age and Growth - To about 50 pounds depending on species.

Potential Concerns - A piscivorous sportfish.  It is restricted due to concerns it could compete with native fishes.

FRESHWATER STINGRAYS

Family Potamotrygonidae (Potamotrygon spp., Paratrygon spp. and Plesiotrygon spp.)

Common Names - Freshwater stingray

Description - A round disc consisting of very enlarged and flattened pectoral fins, with a narrow whiplike tail.  The body is mottled and covered with denticles.  It is the only family of freshwater chondrichtyeans (sharks and rays).

Species - 3 genera, 20 species

Range -  Neotropical freshwaters.

Habitat - Rivers and streams

Spawning Habits - Chondricthyes are ovoviviparous (live bearers) with two to seven young typically produced.

Feeding Habits -  Feed on crustaceans along the bottom

Age and Growth - 10 to 40 inches in disc-width as adults

Potential Concerns - Human health issues.  The stinger can provide a very painful injury if the fish is stepped on.  These fish are novelties in the aquarium industry.  All members of the family Potamotrygonidae are restricted

GRASS CARP

(Ctenopharyngodon idella)

Common Names - Grass carp, white amur, Chinese carp or just carp.

Description - The grass carp is actually one of the largest members of the minnow family. The back of the grass carp is silvery to dark grey, and the sides of the body are lighter with a slightly golden sheen. The belly is silvery white. Fins are generally greenish-grey. The fish has relatively large scales. The body shape is oblong with a round belly and broad head. Teeth have been replaced by specialized structures called pharyngeal teeth (see photo) located in the back of the throat. These are used for tearing and grinding plant matter.  The dorsal fin in nearly above to slightly behind the pelvic fin insertion.

Species - One

Range -  The grass carp is native to large coastal rivers in Siberia (Amur River) and China that flow into the Pacific Ocean. They are extensively cultured for food in China, Malaysia, Singapore, Borneo, Indonesia, Thailand, Taiwan, Hong Kong and the Philippines.

Habitat - Only occurs where stocked within Florida. In its native range it occurs in lakes, ponds, pools and backwaters of large rivers but prefers large, slow-flowing or standing water bodies with vegetation. They are tolerant of temperatures from freezing to over 100 ºF; salinities as high as 10 ppt (brackish), and oxygen levels down to 0.5 ppm.

Feeding Habits -  As the name implies grass carp consume higher aquatic plants and submerged grasses (rooted macrophytes as opposed to algaes); they will also eat detritus, insects and other invertebrates when necessary. Because of their feeding behavior, they are used in this country under special restricted circumstances (see our permit page for details) to help manage aquatic plant problems. Many aquatic plants that pose problems in Florida are exotic and have few natural insect or disease controls, consequently they frequently create problems with access, navigation, flood control, irrigation and aesthetics. Since chemical herbicides and mechanical removal are costly alternatives that often create secondary problems, biocontrol agents, such as triploid grass carp can provide a beneficial tool. Triploid grass carp have three sets of chromosomes, instead of the normal two, which renders them functionally sterile. Triploids are produced artificially, by using hormones, stripping the eggs and mixing them with milt, then subjecting the fertilized egg to hydrostatic pressure, and finally suspending the fertilized eggs in well-aerated containers until they hatch. The resultant fish must be individually tested using a Coulter Counter, in a certification process developed by FWC biologists prior to being permitted for use. The FWC helps protect aquatic habitats by restricting the use of grass carp via permits to only these sterile fish and limiting the number allowed.

Spawning Habits - Broadcast spawners the females lay copious amounts of eggs in free-flowing rivers that are then fertilized by the male. The eggs must remain suspended in the flow until they hatch or they will perish. Ideally, at the time the eggs hatch they will be in a well vegetated area with abundant zooplankton.

Age and Growth - The largest triploid grass carp taken in Florida was 15 years old, 56" long and weighed 75 lbs. In China, grass carp are reputed to live up to 21 years and reach sizes of 5 feet and 100 pounds.

Potential Concerns - Aquatic vegetation is a major component of fish and wildlife habitat.  Over control by grass carp could have major deleterious effects.  Currently only the sterile triploid variety which is produced in hatcheries and certified is allowed in Florida by permit.

NILE PERCH

(Genus Lates all species)

Common Names - Nile perch (note this is not the tilapia sometimes referred to as Nile perch in Florida) capitaine, mputa or sangara

Description - Nile perch are related to snook.  They are silver, with a hint of blue. They have a distinctive dark black eye, with a bright yellow outer ring, and a large spine on the operculum.

Species - Approximately 17 species of Lates.

Range -  Africa, including Lake Chad and the Nile, Zaire, and Niger rivers.

Habitat - Rivers and lakes with juveniles staying in vegetated shallows.

Spawning Habits - Evidently spawn year round releasing a few eggs at a time.

Feeding Habits -  Adults feed on fish, larger crustaceans and insects. Juveniles are reported to be herbivorous and look distinctly different.

Age and Growth - Size to six feet and 440 pounds.

Potential Concerns - Genus Lates all species are restricted due to their large size and piscivorous habits.

SILVER CARP

(Hypophthalmichthys molitrix)

Common Names - silver carp

Description - A large silver colored minnow, with small scales. The keel runs from the isthmus to anus; the last anal spine is not serrated.  The gill rakers are fused into a sponge-like plate.  Dark blotches occur over the body.  Mouth is large and upturned with no teeth.

Species - Hypophthalmichthys molitrix

Range -  China and eastern Siberia

Habitat - Primarily riverine

Spawning Habits - Egg layer, similar to striped bass.

Feeding Habits -  A zoo/phytoplankton filter feeder, which feeds near the surface gulping water and passing it over its gill rakers.

Age and Growth - To 41 inches and over 100 pounds

Potential Concerns - Hypophthalmichthys molitrix is restricted due to its ability to spawn successfully in the US and potential impact on phytoplankton and zooplankton which form the base of the aquatic food chain for many fishes and animals.  Widely used in aquaculture.

SNAIL or BLACK CARP

(Mylopharyngodon piceus)

Common Names - Chinese black carp, black amur, Chinese roach or black Chinese roach or snail carp

Description - Adults possess powerful crushing teeth that permit the fish to crush the shells of large mollusks. A 4-year-old black carp can consume an average of 3 to 4 pounds of mussels per day. Females spawn annually, depositing

129,000 to 1.18 million eggs a year, depending on body size. Black carp are one of four species of Asian carp; the other three – silver carp, bighead carp, and grass carp – have received media attention of late because of their presence in the Mississippi River system and the threat they pose to the Great Lakes Basin. Black carp are different from the other three in two important ways: 1) Black carp have not been found in the wild, and 2) they eat only mussels and snails.

Species - Mylopharyngodon piceus

Range -  From the Amur River in China

Habitat - Primarily riverine

Spawning Habits - Egg layer, similar to striped bass

Feeding Habits -  A bottom feeder that primarily consumes mollusks.

Age and Growth - To more than 4 feet and well over 70 pounds.

Potential Concerns - Mylopharyngodon piceus is restricted due to its ability to spawn in the US and  the impact a reproducing population could have on endangered mussels and the endemic aquatic food chain.

RESTRICTED TILAPIA

(Oreochromis aureus, O. hornorum, O. mossambicus and O. nilotica))

Common Names - Blue tilapia (mistakenly nile perch), Mozambique tilapia, Nile tilapia.

Description - O. aureus is the blue tilapia (pictured at right).  It is the most common in Florida.  Males during the breeding season are blue green with reddish edges to the fins, males and females the remainder of the year are a silvery blue.  O. mossambicus typically are darker colored from gray to black, the snout over the jaw is slightly concave and they have relatively large mouths. 

Species - These four species are generally restricted; other tilapia species (ca. 100) are prohibited.  Blue tilapia are not restricted in some regions (see statutes)

Range -  Native range is African and the Middle East; however, in Florida these four species inhabit various portions of the southern half of the state.

Habitat - Varies from lakes and ponds to rivers and estuaries

Spawning Habits - Each of the these species belong to a group in which the male digs a nest, and the female than picks up the fertilized eggs in her mouth to protect and aerate them.  The female continues to allow the small fry to return to her bucchal cavity (mouth) for protection when predators threaten.

Feeding Habits -  Omnivorous feeding mostly benthically.  Although not true filter feeders they can gather phytoplankton/zooplankton in a mucous-like substance and swallow the bolus for nutrition.

Age and Growth - Rapidly maturing, the larger species like the blue tilapia can reach 10 pounds.

Potential Concerns - Only these four species of tilapia, which were requested for use in the aquaculture industry under strict permit criteria and following extensive research, are listed as restricted, all others are prohibited.   Further range expansion and competition with native species.

WALKING CATFISH

(Clarias batrachus)

Common Names - Walking Catfish

DESCRIPTION – Elongated, gray, and scaleless catfish-type body with a large mouth, sharp pectoral spines, and four pairs of barbels; light to dark gray in color, but albinos occur; noted for ability to breath air and make short overland movements by pulling themselves along with their pectoral fins much like an infantry-man scooting under barbed wire; early accounts that this fish would eliminate native fishes were erroneous, and it has not had major detrimental effects; species occasionally abundant and still considered undesirable.

RANGE – Most commonly encountered in Everglades and associated canals, but also occurs throughout central and south Florida; first reported in 1967 in Broward County and later in Hillsborough County, now these two populations have joined; abundance has decreased since 1970. Native range southeast Asia.

HABITAT - Prefers shallow and highly vegetated water bodies; sometimes abundant in small deeper ponds without normal complement of native fishes. They sometimes dominate small Everglades pools during the dry season, but not necessarily to the exclusion of native fishes. They are much less abundant in large lakes and canals, and then usually only found in shallow vegetated areas; can live and even thrive in water with little to no oxygen since can breathe air; well-adapted to transient water bodies with muddy bottoms that partially dry up seasonally; occasionally found in road storm drainage systems from which they emerge during flooding events; habitat preferences tend to segregate this fish thereby reducing its overall effect on native species.

SPAWNING HABITS – Little known, but reports from India indicate spawn early in rainy season when build nests in submerged vegetation; adhesive eggs laid on vegetation, and guarded by male.

FEEDING HABITS – Opportunistic consuming a wide variety of food items including small fishes, aquatic insects, plant material, and detritus; also scavenges on dead fish, et al.

AGE AND GROWTH - Fairly rapid with sizes up to about 12 inches; maximum size about 20 inches and three pounds.

Potential Concerns - further range expansion and competition with native species.  They are a restricted species so possession and transportation of live walking catfish is illegal without special state and federal permits.  They can only be possessed dead, so anglers who want to try eating them should immediately put them on ice.

RED CLAW CRAYFISH

(Cherax quadricarinatuse)

Common Names - red claw crayfish

Description -

Species -

Range - 

Habitat -

Spawning Habits -

Feeding Habits - 

Age and Growth -

Potential Concerns - This is the only species of Australian crayfish allowed in Florida and it is restricted to tank culture only.

BLUE CATFISH

(Ictalurus furcatus)

Common Names - channel cat, hump-back blue, forktail cat, great blue cat, silver cat, chucklehead cat, blue fulton

Description - Adult fish have stout bodies with prominently humped backs in front of the dorsal fin. They resemble channel catfish by having deeply forked tails, but are dissimilar because they are unspotted and have a long, straight-edged anal fin with 30 to 35 rays. The back and upper sides are blue to slate gray, and the lower sides and belly are white. The internal air bladder has a constriction in the middle, giving it a two-chambered appearance.

Species - Only the single species is restricted.

Range -  Originally found in the Escambia and Yellow rivers in northwest Florida, they are now also in the Apalachicola and Suwannee.  Blues were first officially recorded in 1990 by Florida Game and Fresh Water Commission biologists despite reports that anglers had been catching blues for many years.

Habitat - Blues occur in big rivers and in the lower reaches of major tributaries. They prefer clearer, swifter water than other catfish, and are usually found over sand, gravel or rock bottoms. Their preferred water temperature is 77 to 82 degrees.

Spawning Habits - Spawning and nesting behavior is similar to others of its family. In late spring, males commonly choose and clear a nest site, usually in drift piles, logs, root systems or other dark, secluded areas near the bank. The eggs hatch in about a week, and males guard the fry in the nest until they swim away a week or so later.

Feeding Habits -  Young blues eat aquatic insects and small fish while larger blues prefer crayfish, mussels and other fish. They feed primarily at night.

Age and Growth - Blue catfish grow faster and live longer than channel catfish. They are the largest member of the catfish family. Blues may grow to lengths of over 55 inches and may weigh more than 100 pounds. Maximum life span for blues is unknown but is probably 20-25 years.

Potential Concerns - Blue catfish are restricted as being potentially detrimental to the natural ecosystem if they were moved from their current range into other water bodies and should not be transported alive.

RED SWAMP and WHITE RIVER CRAYFISH

(Procambarus clarkii, P. acutus (zonangulas))

Common Names - Red Swamp crayfish and White River or crawfish

Description - Crayfish are small lobster-like freshwater crustaceans that have a hard outer skeleton or carapace, which protects the body and makes it rigid. On the Red Swamp crayfish, the carapace is dark red bordering on black, and there is with a wedge-shaped stripe on the abdomen. Juveniles are gray, sometimes overlain by dark wavy lines, but without spots. Pincers are narrow and long. The carapace is not separated  by areola. The carapace is rough in adults. The rostrum (spike like protrusion over the head) has lateral spines or notches near its tip. Adults are about 2 to 5 inches in length.

On the White River crayfish, a black V-shaped stripe on the abdomen is diagnostic, with the body being a dark red or burgundy color. Juveniles are gray with dark spots scattered over the carapace. The pincers are long and narrow. Another key is the carapace is separated at its middle by a space (areola). The carapace is rough in adults. Adults are about 3 to 4 inches in length.

Range -  This species is native to the southern United States but has become established in many other areas of North America and other continents.

Habitat - Generally, shallow well-vegetated freshwater areas.

Spawning Habits - In late spring and early summer the females dig burrows in dry banks to lay eggs. Each female produces 200 to 400 young crayfish and adults have been observed with young all year round.

Feeding Habits -  Crayfish can feed on insects, larvae and
other animal and vegetation matter. They are benthic omnivores that rely on aquatic
flora and fauna, and detritus for their energy needs.

Age and Growth - As with other crayfish, since their carapaces do not grow, they are molted  periodically.  Young crayfish may grow fast enough to require shedding every 10 days, whereas adults shed 2-3 times per year.

Potential Concerns - Procambarus clarkii and P. zonangulus are specifically restricted, except that pond culture is prohibited.  They may be possessed west of the Apalachicola River or imported for direct sale to food wholesalers and retailers without a permit.  They are widely cultivated as food (especially the red swamp) and bait (especially the white river) in Louisiana and elsewhere.  As a close relative to native species it would likely be able to thrive in Florida and compete with numerous threatened species of crayfish that are endemic to Florida.  In other places where it  has become established (e.g., Ohio and Spain) concern with impacts on aquatic plant communities has been significant.