Invasive swamp eel spotted at Fort Myers Manatee Park, experts alarmed

COLLIER COUNTY, Fla. (WINK)—An invasive Asian swamp eel was spotted at Manatee Park earlier this month, and researchers say the species is spreading fast across Florida.

Gabriel Rogers, a Manatee Park visitor, initially mistook a photo of the eel for a snake. When shown the image, Rogers thought it looked like a black racer.

Rogers added the eel is "one more that we don't need to add to the list of things ruining our ecosystem here in Florida."

Florida Gulf Coast University Professor Dr. Serge Thomas said finding one in Fort Myers is cause for alarm. 

The eels pose a significant threat to the local ecosystem. "It's eating pretty much everything, including crayfish, which is staple food for many wading birds," Thomas said.

Thomas explained the potential for a trophic cascade, in which the eels consume food sources that other species need. Eels can survive cold temperatures, breathe air, slide across land, and burrow into mud to survive.

University of Florida's Dr. Frank Mazzotti said the eels will soon appear throughout the state. "They're going to start popping up all over, all over the state," Mazzotti said.

Mazzotti warned against dismissing the threat. "They do have the potential for causing the same level of ecological damage that we have seen in pythons," Mazzotti said.

Mazzotti said researchers released information to raise awareness because the eels' distribution is likely underestimated. "That's why we started that press release to get people looking for them and be aware of them, because I think we are really underestimating both their distribution," Mazzotti said.

UF researchers are now tracking the eels using environmental DNA. "We have also developed a technique using what they call environmental DNA or eDNA, because as an animal exists in a system, it sheds DNA from skin, mucus, feces, and you can sample that water and say, yep, swamp eels live here," Mazzotti said.

For Rogers, the discovery is disheartening. "You know, it hurts to see things like this that are invasive to our ecosystem," Rogers said.

The eels aren't confined to the Everglades or Manatee Park. Experts say they can be found in neighborhood ponds, backyard canals, and local lakes.

Anyone who spots an Asian swamp eel should take a photo and report it to FWC's "I Got One" hotline.