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Inexperienced aquarium hobbyists, escaped from fish farms and illegally introduced are just some of the various theories as to how South Florida’s exotic fishery began over the last several decades. The most likely culprit in freshwater is the former, having exotic species imported from around the globe and released into Florida’s canals once they out grew their tanks. But, South Florida’s star attraction was neither the case as the “peacock bass” was introduced by the state in 1984, with the hopes of controlling other non-natives. It is the only known project of its kind in the world that has been…