Go Fish: Here's what's swimming in Brays Bayou
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- It turns out, in addition to the millions of people who visit Houston and its surrounding areas every year, a certain marine species likes to stop by the Bayou City once in a while, too.
In a joint project, teams from Inland Fisheries College Station/Houston District and the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department have discovered that saltwater fish are swimming in Brays Bayou.
According to biologists, that's a surprise because Brays Bayou is close to pure freshwater, and species like the Sheepshead fish, one of the species they found, normally doesn't spend too much time there.
Sheepshead fish can withstand freshwater and do travel into it, but only for short periods, and likely just to search for food.
Red Drum, another saltwater species, was also spotted during the venture.
This isn't the first time an animal has traveled away from its home to Houston. Around this time three years ago, a manatee managed to trek from Tampa to Trinity Bay in Chambers County. That trip was unusual because the waters in the Texas Gulf Coast are usually too cold for the mammals in the winter.
