New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research abstracts
Distribution and impacts of introduced freshwater fishes in Western Australia
David L. Morgan
Howard S. Gill
Mark G. Maddern
Stephen J. Beatty
Centre for Fish & Fisheries Research
Murdoch University
South Street, Murdoch
WA 6150, Australia
email: d.morgan@murdoch.edu.au
Abstract This paper presents comprehensive distributional
data, from over 1300 sites, on introduced freshwater fishes in Western Australia.
Currently, there are 10 species of introduced freshwater fish established
in the inland waters of Western Australia. Most of the introduced fishes
found here are those that have formed feral populations elsewhere in the
world, and include members of the Salmonidae, i.e., rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus
mykiss) and brown trout (Salmo trutta); Cyprinidae, i.e., goldfish
(Carassius auratus) and carp (Cyprinus carpio); Poeciliidae,
i.e., mosquitofish (Gambusia holbrooki), one-spot livebearer (Phalloceros
caudimaculatus), guppy (Poecilia reticulata), and swordtail (Xiphophorus
hellerii); Percidae, i.e., redfin perch (Perca fluviatilis), and
Cichlidae, i.e., Mozambique mouthbrooder or tilapia (Oreochromis mossambicus).
More recently, the eastern Australian silver perch (Bidyanus bidyanus)
(Terapontidae), which was introduced for aquaculture, has been captured in
the Swan River near Perth. It is not known whether this population is self-maintaining.
The majority of introduced species are confined to the south-west, although
four and one species have been recorded from the Pilbara and Kimberley, respectively.
Some species are extremely common and widespread, e.g., G. holbrooki
and P. fluviatilis, whereas others are far more restricted and may
be confined to between one and three catchments, e.g., C. carpio,
P. caudimaculatus, P. reticulata, X. hellerii, O.
mossambicus, and B. bidyanus. The impact of these introduced fishes
on native species varies, but ranges from predation, e.g., O. mykiss,
S. trutta, G. holbrooki, and P. fluviatilis, to aggressiveness,
e.g., G. holbrooki, X. hellerii, and O. mossambicus,
and competition for food and habitat.
Keywords feral fishes; Oncorhynchus mykiss; Salmo
trutta; Carassius auratus; Cyprinus carpio; Gambusia
holbrooki; Phalloceros caudimaculatus; Poecilia reticulata;
Xiphophorus hellerii; Perca fluviatilis; Oreochromis mossambicus;
Bidyanus bidyanus
M03091; Received 9 December 2002; accepted 26 April 2004; Online publication
date 3 August 2004
New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research, 2004, Vol. 38:
511-523
0028-8330/04/3803-0511 © The Royal Society of New Zealand 2004
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