Aquarium trade and fish farms as a source of non-native freshwater fish introductions in French Guiana

Raphael Covain,Grégory Quartarollo,Régis Vigouroux,Hadrien Lalagüe,Sébastien Brosse,Antoine Baglan,Pierre-Yves Le Bail

doi:10.1051/limn/2021002

Abstract

Rivers of French Guiana are still little invaded by non-native fish, but several fish introductions were recently recorded through the development of aquarium fish trade and fish farms. Here we report records of 11 non-native fish species. Among them, four (Cichla monoculus,Heros efasciatus,Mesonauta guyanaeandPoecilia reticulata) are established and one of them (Heros efasciatus) is rapidly increasing its spatial range. Two species (Hyphessobrycon equesandPterophyllum scalare) were not retrieved in recent records and are probably extinct from French Guiana. The establishment status of the five other species (Arapaima gigas,Colossoma macropomum,Cyprinus carpio,Oreochromis mossambicusandOsteoglossum bicirrhosum) is uncertain and only a few specimens were observed in the wild. Nevertheless, these species, intensively reared in nearby countries, belong to highly invasive species able to cause detrimental impacts on recipient ecosystems. Those first occurrences of invasive fish species in French Guiana should therefore act as an early warning for both researchers and environmental managers.

Highlights

Freshwater fish invasions are widespread across the world (Leprieur et al, 2008) and are recognised as one of the main causes of global changes on aquatic ecosystems (Sala et al, 2000; Butchart et al, 2010)
Rivers of French Guiana are still little invaded by non-native fish, but several fish introductions were recently recorded through the development of aquarium fish trade and fish farms
The establishment status of the five other species (Arapaima gigas, Colossoma macropomum, Cyprinus carpio, Oreochromis mossambicus and Osteoglossum bicirrhosum) is uncertain and only a few specimens were observed in the wild

Summary

Introduction

Freshwater fish invasions are widespread across the world (Leprieur et al, 2008) and are recognised as one of the main causes of global changes on aquatic ecosystems (Sala et al, 2000; Butchart et al, 2010). The demographic rise of human population in French Guiana led to trigger the development of aquarium trade and aquaculture, increasing the risk of new. Lim. 2021, 57, 4 where it was observed, excluding natural spread of native species We considered both non-Guianese species (exotic species) and Guianese species introduced in one or several river basins where they do not naturally belong (translocated species, Leprieur et al, 2008). When a species was not retrieved in the known introduction locality despite recent (>5 years) and repeated inventories including angling, net catches and underwater observations, it was considered as extinct from the locality

Results

Material and methods

Discussion