A strange and exotic fish found its way into the River Ness, the Ness District Salmon Fishery Board has said.
Two mystery fish were discovered on the Inverness Angling Club stretch of the river - one alive, and one dead.
The carnivorous fish, which turn out to be native to Central America, are thought to be Jaguar Cichlids - and are certainly not commonly found in Scottish waters.
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It's thought an owner had ditched the fish - which are common as aquarium pets - in the river, but the fishery board warned of the "devastating impact" this could have on the Highland river ecosystem.
This evening we received reports of two unidentified fish found on the Inverness Angling Club beat of the River Ness in...
Posted by Ness District Salmon Fishery Board on Monday, September 7, 2020
In an appeal posted on Facebook, the Ness District Salmon Fishery Board criticised the "highly irresponsible" act of releasing the tropical fish into the river Ness.
The post read: "This evening we received reports of two unidentified fish found on the Inverness Angling Club beat of the River Ness in Inverness, one of which was still alive."
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"Our first thoughts from the description given on the telephone were that they might be perch, common across much of the UK but not native to the Ness system."
"On collection were amazed to find what appear to be two ‘cichlid’ fish, more common in areas such as Lake Tanganyika in Africa."
"These fish are common in the aquarium trade as pets and it is likely that someone has decided to release them into the wild."
"If so, this is highly irresponsible and anyone looking to release unwanted pet fish into local rivers and lochs are urged to find alternatives as this can have a devastating impact on native species and ecosystems."
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