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Non-native fish are found throughout Florida’s freshwaters

Usually, when there’s news about escapees from medical research facilities, freshwater fish are not the obvious fugitives.

But that was the case with the pike killifish when researchers released about 50 of the fish into agricultural canals in the late 1950s.

Now, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has identified up to 22 non-native fish in Florida's fresh waters.

The agency in May added new rules that will "help proactively protect Florida from invasive species becoming established in the state," according to a news release.

While no freshwater fish made the list this year, the agency is "currently examining fish that are on the federal Lacey Act but not regulated by the state to see if they pose a risk to the state," a spokesperson wrote in an email.

The act, established in 1900, bans illegal wildlife trafficking in the U.S.

The state is a hotbed for the tropical freshwater fish trade. The subtropical climate is optimal for raising hundreds of varieties of nonnative fish, and sometimes those fish establish populations in state waterways.