The alligator gar fish found in the river in Kedah ??? YAU MOU GAU...CHOR!!

PETALING JAYA: The alligator gar fish found in the river in Kedah is not a local fish and could have possibly been released into the river where it was caught.
A local fisheries biologist, who declined to be named, said the alligator gar was from the United States.

“The fish is found in Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, South Carolina and is a popular aquarium fish,” he said, adding that the fish can grow very big and weight as much as 100kg.

He said that in many cases, owners of the alligator gar abandon their pets in streams and rivers when the fish became too big to manage and costly to feed.
It was reported yesterday that a 5kg fish with a crocodile-like head and jaw and snake-like scales was caught by farmer Abdul Razak Zain who was fishing at Sungai Pasir in Kampung Pasir, Mukim Naga, near Jitra.

The biologist added: “The presence of this fish in natural waters is a disturbing phenomenon and points to a continuing degradation of our local freshwater fauna.
“It is bad enough that our local species have to face pollution, sedimentation and river canalisation; now they have to come under predator pressures from exotic fish.”
The biologist said these problems underscored the fragility of the country's indigenous freshwater fish populations.
“Most Malaysians have no idea how many foreign species have invaded our waters and what the damage has been.
“Don’t release such fish into our rivers. People who see such fish in the river should remove them,” he added.
The gar, also known as the gator gar or Lepisosteus spatula, belongs to a category of primitive ray-finned fish.
A mature alligator gar possesses a dual row of large teeth in the upper jaw. It is these remarkably alligator-like teeth, which give the fish its name.
Gars have swim bladders that can function as lungs – and most gars surface periodically to take a gulp of air, doing so more frequently in stagnant or warm water when the concentration of oxygen in the water is low.
As a result, these fish are extremely hardy and able to tolerate conditions that would kill off most other fish.
Gars tend to be slow, preferring shallow weedy areas of rivers, lakes and bayous. However, they are voracious predators and can catch fish and crustaceans with their sharp, long needle-like teeth.
They are most abundant in tropical to subtropical freshwater, but several species are found in the more temperate parts of North America, as far north as southern Canada.
Gar flesh is edible, and sometimes available in markets. But unlike the sturgeons that they resemble, the gars’ roe is poisonous.

Comment:
Don't ever abandon any foreign species or allien pets or animals or even plants you have into our be loved rivers or lakes or lands. These species might be dangerous to us and “It is bad enough that our local species have to face pollution, sedimentation and river canalisation; now they have to come under predator pressures from exotic fish.”

Please think before you did! You should get advised from licensed agency or the Goverment for such kinds of case. Love our country!!!

On the other hands, I think the G should takes more serious actions on controlling Pets owners and licenses. Also, The G should check it frequently too. Do your duty correctly!

YAU MOU GAU...CHOR!!