First report on the occurrence of invasive black-chin tilapia Sarotherodon melanotheron (Ruppell, 1852) in Manila Bay and of Mayan cichlid Cichlasoma urophthalmus (Gunther, 1892) in the Philippines

Abstract

We report the presence of blackchin tilapia, Sarotherodon melanotheron, in the coastal waters of Manila Bay and in the river tributary of Hagonoy, Bulacan, suggesting its possible range expansion. The occurrence of the native Central American Mayan cichlid, Cichlosoma urophthalmus, is also putatively confirmed for the first time in Hagonoy, Bulacan. While morphological features, morphometric characters, and meristic counts of the current populations match those reported elsewhere for these species, further genetic work is required to confirm their identification and possibly provide information on their source. Negative impacts of the existence of the two species due to competitive interactions have already been anecdotally reported, however, no empirical scientific evidence is available to provide verification. Therefore, studies on the potential ecological impacts should be done, especially because the two species were already reported as notoriously invasive.