Nile perch: how huge fish broke the great African Lake Victoria (9 photos)

In the wide African rivers there is a beast that is no less frightening than the Nile crocodiles. And the name of this beast is the Nile perch. This monstrous fish is a real nightmare for any body of water, because its hunger devastates lakes and rivers!





It is easy to guess that the miracle fish lives in the waters of the Nile. But its territory is not limited to the great river. The perch has colonized the Congo and many large lakes where it was not found before.



Judging by the eyes, it is not yet clear who caught whom.

The species ended up in new locations thanks to the light hand of humans, which the bipeds have already regretted. So the hungry giants, brought in the 50s for breeding and catching, almost finished off the ecosystem of Lake Victoria. And this, for a second, is the second largest freshwater lake in the world!





A big fish needs a big lake!

And what outcome did people expect when they brought one of the largest freshwater inhabitants of Africa into a closed reservoir? The Nile perch is a truly titanic fish. The average size of an adult is 1.5 meters and 100 kilograms. The largest representatives of the species grow up to 2 meters and eat up to 200 kilograms!



The perch's only weapon is its sharp spine. In adults, it is the size of a full-fledged knife blade.

The giant has no sharp teeth, no poison, and no camouflage. A huge mouth and a bottomless stomach are the two most terrible weapons of the fish. Like a vacuum cleaner, the predator sucks in everything indiscriminately: insects, crustaceans, fish. Lake Victoria was no exception - the perch reduced the population of local herbivorous animals to zero and devoured all competitors. The consequences for the reservoir were catastrophic.



Confess, Mr. Fish, how many unique species have you killed today?!

From a rich ecosystem, Victoria turned into a giant dying puddle! Algae consumed almost all the oxygen in the reservoir - after all, the herbivorous inhabitants were gone. Endemic species of fish, insects and arthropods simply suffocated. The Nile perch destroyed about 300 unique species that lived only in Victoria.



Fishermen from all over the world come to hunt for giant perch.

Residents of Australia, for example, caught flashbacks from this story and now mercilessly fine anyone who is found with a live Nile perch. And the World Wildlife Fund even included the fish in the list of the hundred most notorious invasive scoundrels.



We show the Nile perch places it has never been.

Despite the terrible sentences, the Nile perch is still a damn tasty fish. Dozens of kilograms of very fatty white meat without bones - who would refuse such a catch. In addition, the fish is unpretentious and can live even in salted reservoirs. Only a more gluttonous person keeps the population of this animal under control, even if he himself cooked up this mess. Or better yet, let him develop aquaculture, where the hungry perch devours food, and not local ecosystems.



The Nile perch may have done a lot of damage to Lake Victoria, but they later became the main source of income for the inhabitants of the microscopic island of Migingo, which is located inside the lake.

However, the perch does not care what people think about it. It has two tasks: to eat and to reproduce. The fish approaches the second process a little carelessly. During a rendezvous with a male, the female throws out up to 16 million eggs and leaves them to their fate.



Yes, this tiny fish is also a Nile perch. Just small for now.

Millions of fry will experience first-hand what it means to be small and defenseless. In order to grow to at least half of their maximum size, they will have to survive for more than 15 years! Most will die in the teeth of crocodiles, on fishermen's hooks and in the mouths of their relatives. But those who survive will themselves become a terror to entire ecosystems.