czyivn t1_isogyvc wrote on October 17, 2022 at 2:44 PM

Reply to comment by atomfullerene in How do fishes get into isolated inland lakes in the first place? and why don't we see more divergent evolution / speciation given the separation of each group of fishes from each other? by I-mean-Literally

I know some people seem skeptical of birds as a means of dispersal, but unless mistakes are happening with fish stocking or someone is secretly sneaking onto our land to do it, it's the only explanation possible for certain fish getting into ponds on my family ranch. We have ponds stocked with bass, perch, and blue catfish. Suddenly flathead catfish started appearing in some of the ponds and eventually took them all over. We definitely didn't stock them, and the ponds aren't in locations capable of flooding from other nearby ponds. The only reasonable explanation is that either people did it somehow (it wasn't any of my family) or birds are doing it. Ducks aren't that common either, so it would have to be something more like an egret/heron.

atomfullerene t1_isom395 wrote on October 17, 2022 at 3:24 PM

How long ago were they stocked with the other fish? My bet is that you had a few juvenile flathead sneak in with the other fish when they were stocked. It takes them 4-5 years to mature, and it might take a few generations before the ponds had enough in them for them to be noticeable.

czyivn t1_isoyjvy wrote on October 17, 2022 at 4:52 PM

The only point it really makes sense is during the stocking with blue catfish. Those got big much sooner, though. We were catching 2-3 lb blue cats while the flatheads were still a quarter pound or less. So having it happen from that single stocking event doesn't make a ton of s ense to me, but I guess it's possible if they grow much slower than blue catfish.