Asian Swamp Eels Considered Threat to Everglades

First discovered in Florida in 1997,

Asian swamp eels, or rice eels as they are sometimes known, are becoming firmly established in ditches, canals, and streams near Tampa and Miami, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. This highly adaptable tropical species—it can breathe air, survive in just a few inches of water, even migrate short distances overland—was probably released from pet aquaria or a fish farm and is

now considered a major ecological threat to the Everglades National Park, Big Cypress National Preserve, and surrounding wetlands. USGS naturalists are hoping that the swamp eels will become a favorite food of a native predator, such as alligators or water snakes.