The Iridescent Sharks Of Pinecrest Gardens, Plus Four Other Fish Friends

From Pinecrest Gardens:

May 17, 2021

Feeling Fishy?

I sure am! Today I'll be introducing you to the scaly wonders of Pinecrest Gardens! We've got a few waterways here, including Swan Lake, the Lower Garden Snapper Creek bed, and a few ponds that are home to some rather incredible fish.

One of the favorite pastimes of visitors here is to feed our fish. We even have a 'fish feeding waterfall', which means we're not the only ones who put on a little extra quarantine lbs. Our fish are happy and full of personality. Let's meet the Fish of Pinecrest Gardens:

First things first: These fish are friends, not food!

Red Bellied and Black Bellied Pacu:

These fish are found in the lower garden waterways, and without a doubt you've seen them. One of the largest fish we have on property, the Pacus enjoy a nice slow life here. Pacus are native to the Amazon, and are of the family Serrasalmidae, which makes them cousins of the infamous Piranha! Not to fear however, unlike the Piranha they are nonaggressive and are not carnivores. Instead, they use their human-like teeth to munch on seeds, nuts, plant material, and special fish food. Their favorite fruit here at the garden is Pond Apple, which grows along the banks of the lower garden waterway. Their diet makes them extremely valuable seed dispersers. Take a look at those chompers! Next time you visit, see if you can distinguish between the Black and Red Bellied Pacu. There's even a few albinos in the lower garden!

Iridescent Shark:

She's shiny, she's pretty, and she's....technically not a shark. The iridescent shark, Pangasianodon hypophthalmus is actually a type of catfish! It's called a shark because its body is similar in shape to a shark's body, and they can grow up to 4 feet. As juveniles, they have a silvery sheen to them, which adds to their shark-like appearance. Generally they are very active, schooling fish that resides only in freshwater. Also, these fish can live up to 20 years which is an incredibly long time for a fish! They are native to South East Asia, and are commonly farmed and eaten under the name swai. Our iridescent sharks will never be eaten, but will live out their long days happily amongst other fish friends at the garden.

Mountain Mullet: First spotted at Pinecrest Gardens (then Parrot Jungle) in the 1980s, the Mountain Mullet have made a return! They were thought to have disappeared from the area, but have been making a slow recovery as of late. These are small to medium sized freshwater fish who prefer moving water such as freshwater streams, coastal rivers and springs. Because of their peculiar requirements, the mountain mullet in the lower garden ponds seem to enjoy the flowing water of our lower garden water systems. These Mountain Mullet are also free to come and go as the please from our dam system which connects to the snapper creek waterway. The fish are known to jump and leap which is telling of their migratory behavior. We love our mountain mullet! You can find these fish in the lower garden pond at Pinecrest Gardens.

Koi Fish:

Did you know that the word Koi in Japanese translates to brocaded Carp? Koi to me are fancy fish. They became popular due a totally natural color mutation. Over time, the mutation produced bright orange, white, yellow, black and red colorations in the fish. Carp were bred for color mutations in China over a thousand years ago, making them one of the first species to be widely bred for selection. The breeding of the Prussian Carp even led to the development of the goldfish! Sadly during hurricane Irma we lost 80% of our Koi. We're slowly rebuilding the Koi population here at the garden, and you can see them in both the fish feeding waterfall and in the turtle island pond.Koi in the fish feeding waterfall

Spotted Gar:

This fish, in my humble opinion is the coolest fish we have at Pinecrest Gardens. First of all, did you know that Gar are a prehistoric fish with bony scales that form a hard armor around their bodies? When I say prehistoric, I mean Gar, specifically the Alligator Gar have been on the planet for 157 million years. These fish are dinosaurs! Aside from having tough scaly armor, they have a long skinny snout filled with teeth. Some species of Gar, like the Alligator Gar can grow up to 6 feet long and weigh up to 200lbs! Luckily, ours are nowhere near that big, and our species of gar is the spotted gar or, Lepisosteus oculatus which really only grows to about 3 or 4 feet. Though they are smaller than the well known Alligator Gar, their bodies are spotted and beautiful. Keep an eye out for Gar in the lower garden waterways.

The fishy list doesn't end here! We have mollies, tilapia, large mouth bass, gambusia, tarpon, sunfish and more! On your next visit to the garden, ask for fish food from the ticket booth, and take your time looking for these fishy friends. A pro-tip is to bring some binoculars to the lakeview terrace to see what you can spot in the Swan Lake.As always, Happy Digging!

This press release was produced by the Pinecrest Gardens. The views expressed are the author's own.