A once troublesome invasive fish species in Sun Moon Lake is dwindling

A once troublesome invasive fish species in Sun Moon Lake is dwindling

2025-12-02

Sun Moon Lake once used to be ravaged by an invasive fish, the giant snakehead, which had a big impact on the lake’s ecosystem. Every summer the Nantou County Government would use electrofishing to catch giant snakeheads and remove its fry. However, this year the catch hit a record low of just over 800. People are questioning whether this is due to the successful efforts of the county government and its cooperation with local communities -- or if it’s been displaced by another invasive species, the peacock cichlid. Let’s find out more.

The giant snakehead is an invasive fish that once ravaged Sun Moon Lake and caused ecological devastation. The local government has since stepped in to prevent this. Every summer tens of thousands of its fry have been zapped with electrofishing. However, this year, just over 800 of the fish have been caught so far.

Tseng Yin-wei
Nantou County Government
There could be other reasons for its decline besides the efforts of our county government, such as people accidentally releasing fish, maybe they released peacock cichlid and it might be preying on giant snakehead? It’s also possible that recently the climate has changed suddenly and that made the giant snakehead suddenly unable to adapt. Taiwan’s climate has seen many changes.

The Nantou Government’s agricultural authorities do not rule out the possibility that a new species of fish may be active in Sun Moon Lake, and has become the new dominant species.

Fisher
Sun Moon Lake
Many people thought that after the peacock cichlid appeared in Sun Moon Lake, it might become the new overlord of the lake, the lake’s evil tyrant. But personally I think that’s unlikely. It simply can’t compete with the giant snakehead. The largest snakehead found in Sun Moon Lake so far is nearly 1m long, while the largest peacock cichlid that people are sharing online so far is probably no more than 60cm long.

Anglers believe that the peacock cichlid is not having a significant impact on the giant snakehead. Whether it will become the next invasive species to massively multiply in Sun Moon Lake remains to be seen.

For more Taiwan news, tune in:
Mon to Fri at 9:30 pm on Channel 152
Tue to Sat at 1 am on Channel 53

#fish #ecology #sumoonlake #nantou #travel #taiwan

日月潭外來種"魚王易主"? 魚虎大減.皇冠三間活躍

2025-12-02

日月潭之前遭魚虎入侵，影響生態，南投縣府每年夏天電撈魚虎球，移除魚虎幼體，但今年節氣已過立冬，電撈量只有八百多尾，創歷年新低。縣府說，電撈量連年創新低，除了是釣客幫忙釣，官民合作達到成效，但也不排除，跟新興外來魚種皇冠三間有關！

過去曾經是橫行日月潭，造成生態浩劫的外來魚種魚虎，政府出手防治，每年夏天電撈魚虎球數量成千上萬，但今年至今只撈到八百多尾。

[[南投縣政府農業處副處長曾銀位]]
“牠減少的原因，除了我們縣政府的努力之外，是不是也有另外不小心，又有民眾放生一些，可能皇冠三間魚，牠可能也會吃魚虎的情形，那也有可能說，最近氣候的驟變，讓牠魚虎一下子無法適應，台灣的多變的氣候”

縣府農業處不排除，日月潭可能有新興魚種活躍，成為繼魚虎之後的新興霸主。

[[日月潭釣客一等高]]
“很多人會以為說皇冠三間，在日月潭出現之後，會不會成為日月潭的新一代霸主，潭中惡霸，那以我個人來講的話，是覺得比較不太有可能性，基本上牠無法跟魚虎做抗衡，因為魚虎在日月潭，目前發現最大的體型，是將近1米多，皇冠三間到目前在網路上，人家有在分享的資訊大概，最大也不會超過60公分”

釣客認為皇冠三間對魚虎的影響不大，會不會在日月潭成為下一個大爆發的魚種，還有待觀察！

更多新聞內容，請鎖定：
民視台灣台（152頻道）週一至週五晚上9:30
民視新聞台（53頻道）週二至週六凌晨1:00

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Tobu Railways gave the locomotive to Taiwan Railway, as a sign of their friendship. It’ll be on display at Taipei Main Station.

According to Taiwan Railway, there will be a 10th anniversary event for the partnership with Tobu Railways on Dec. 18. The golden locomotive arrived at the Port of Taipei on Monday, and was delivered outside the East Gate of Taipei Main Station by Tuesday morning, after a night of transportation and placement. It can already be viewed by the public.

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We found out about it online. It was last in Taiwan when the partnership was signed. I photographed it in its original livery, which was the partnership signing livery. I believe this is a gift from Japan, so I’ve come here especially to take a look.

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I came from Tainan. I’ve taken photos of it in Japan. While in Japan it was in motion and carrying passengers, but here it’s still, so it’s different.

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