JACKSON, Wyo. —A Buckrail reader recently reached out to us about a tropical fish he released in the Kelly Warm Springs in the 1960s, prompting us to ask Game and Fish: Is there a population of exotic species living in the springs?
The Kelly Warm Springs has been the site of aquarium dumping for years and years, said Chris Wight, aquatic invasive species specialist at Wyoming Game and Fish Department.
Tropical species that are present in the springs include sword tales, guppies, madtoms and goldfish. There is also a robust population of American bullfrogs living in the Kelly Warm Springs as well.
“The warm springs have been a place where people with unwanted aquarium pets have gone to let them loose,” Wight said.
According to a report published by Grand Teton National Park, bullfrogs were introduced to Kelly Warm Springs as early as the 1950s. Their large size, high mobility, generalist eating habits, high fecundity and function as a disease vector make the bullfrog an extremely successful invader and a threat to biodiversity.
Competition for habitat
Concerns arise because the warm springs are not an isolated part of the environment.
The outflow of the warm springs goes to the Savage Ditch complex, to Ditch Creek and then to the Snake River, explained Wight, creating issues related to competition for resources and habitat.
“There has been documentation of cutthroat trout using Ditch Creek for spawning grounds,” Wight said. Invasive species in the area can pose a threat to native species.
There is also concern about the bullfrogs migrating out of the Kelly Warm Springs. “They are a little bit thermally prohibited to move outside springs.” Wight said, “Our concern is that there are other geothermal areas along the Gros Ventre corridor that could be suitable habitat”
“We don’t want to see them migrate out of the warm springs,” Wight said.
Nonnative tropical fish are also temperature tolerant so they are likely not moving out of the warm springs, but they could still pose a threat to native species that live in the warm springs.
“It’s simply something we don’t really know that much about,” Wight said, “But I don’t know that there has ever been documentation of goldfish in the snake.”
“There is a huge importance in not introducing nonnative species into the environment because we don’t know the impacts,” Wight said.
Attempts to eradicate
In 2018 a chemical treatment was conducted on the springs to remove the exotic species. While the treatment was an overall success it did not completely eradicate all the species.
“Due to water levels and the spring itself there were refuge areas where nonnative species were able to avoid the chemicals,” Wight said.
Game and Fish hasn’t dedicated a large number of resources to documenting the nonnative populations since 2018. “The numbers have rebounded in recent years.” Wight said, “We’ve toyed with the idea of pursuing another chemical treatment.”
“The best way to go about getting rid of an aquatic pet is to reach out to a pet store to rehome them. If you can’t find a home for them, it’s better to euthanize them than let them out in a creek simply because of the natural resources implications,” Wight said.
