Panama's Gatun Lake Introduction
Cichla Pleiozona was introduced into Panama via a fresh water creek in the Rio Chagres drainage region unintentionally in the late 1950s (experts are not certain of the exact date). A well known aquarist and medical doctor began raising peacock bass in a small pond in his back yard for sale as aquarium fish. Within a year, heavy rains flooded the pond, causing some fry to escape into a nearby creek which drained into Gatun Lake. By 1964, the lake and nearby rivers and creeks were overrun with the cichlids, providing sport fishing opportunities that had not existed previously. Since then, Cichla Pleiozona has become the dominant sport fish species in the area.
Read more about this topic: Peacock Bass
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