We've got two great guests with decades of combined knowledge who will help you get to know and appreciate these very large, migratory fish. Adam Kaeser is a fish biologist from our Panama City Fish and Wildlife Conservation Office and Frank Paruka is a retired biologist and distinguished gulf sturgeon researcher. We cover everything from biology basics to heritage and history, and answer questions about why they jump, how they communicate, and how we study them in murky waters, and more.

Wildlife Inspector Daniel Sahakian joins us for a special episode focused on the international pleco trade as a follow-on to the armored suckermouth catfishes episode. This is the first in a mini series of themed episodes we plan to air that are focused on illegal fish trade, U.S. and international wildlife protection laws, and the amazing work our U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Office of Law Enforcement. In this episode you'll get to know the CITES-listed Hypancistrus zebra (zebra pleco).

 This episode broadly introduces the family of South American armored suckermouth catfishes (Loricariidae) with a focus on genus Pterygoplichthys (AKA janitor fish/sailfin plecos/sailfin catfishes). You might know them from your fish tank or where they've been released into U.S. waters. We also introduce "Fan Mail Darter" where we answer questions and read fan feedback. This is part 1 of 2. Part 2 will focus on the pleco trade with one of our Wildlife Inspectors!

If you like this episode you may also enjoy:

• S4:E48 Jack Dempsey: Cichlid, Not Boxer
• S4:E48 Introducing the Bizarre Knifefishes

Journey across America and beyond with us as co-hosts Katrina & Guy + guests explore how to live with, live from, discover and enjoy #AllTheFish (new episodes every Monday, wherever you get your podcasts).