From Spectrum News 1
October 26, 2020
GARDEN GROVE, Calif. — Every morning Michael Saba heads out to feed his fish — all 75,000 of them.
Known as “The King Fish,” Saba is a marine biologist with the Orange County Mosquito and Vector Control District, where he rules over an army of tiny silvery creatures.
“I think they’re the most beautiful organisms on the planet,” he said.
His fish are not all that different than the kind you’d buy at a pet store — except for one thing.
“This is one of that family of fishes that just happens to eat mosquito larvae in abundance when it’s present,” he said.
Called mosquitofish, they’re nature’s best weapon against pesky blood suckers. Once they reach adulthood, the fish are delivered to backyard fountains and ponds all over Orange County, where they’ll gobble up little mosquito larvae.