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The move was a "last resort" to solve the sunfish's health issues, which a staff member believed had stemmed from loneliness, the aquarium said on its X account earlier this month.

McNeish, who has examined the fish carcasses since late August, has identified non-native species including bass, sunfish, bullhead catfish and mosquitofish.

Other winners of a slimy new epoch would be ocean sunfish, a giant bony fish whose individuals can clock in at more than 2,000 pounds and consume jellyfish — and velella — in mass quantities.

It’s the latest tactic in an ongoing struggle to keep non-native smallmouth bass and green sunfish at bay below the Glen Canyon Dam and to protect a threatened native fish, the humpback chub.

Orcas also seem to enjoy penguin breast meat and sunfish intestines, Meyer says.