Tackling aquatic invasions: risks and opportunities for the aquarium fish industry

By A. Chang, J. D. Grossman, Teresa Sabol Spezio, H. W. Weiskel, J. Blum, J. W. Burt, Adrianna A. Muir, J. Piovia‐Scott, K. Veblen, E. Grosholz. Biological Invasions, 2009

94 citations recorded by the source corpus.

The aquarium trade is an important and rapidly growing vector for introduced species in the United States. We examined this vector by surveying pet stores in the San Francisco Bay–Delta region to compile a list of aquarium fish species commonly stocked. We identified which of these species might be able to survive in the Bay–Delta, and investigated store representatives’ knowledge and attitudes about biological invasions. A restrictive analysis using conservative estimates of fish temperature tolerances and environmental conditions found that the local aquarium trade includes 5 fish species that can survive in a temperate system such as the Bay–Delta. Under more inclusive parameters, up to 27 fish species met the criteria for survival in the Bay–Delta. We further explored these results by comparing potential invader incidence between different types of stores. In the more restrictive analysis, three national retail chains stocked significantly more potentially invasive species than independent aquarium stores, but there was no difference in the more inclusive analysis. A significantly higher percentage of fish taxa were easily identifiable and well-labeled in chain stores than in independent stores. Most aquarium store representatives indicated willingness to take action to reduce the threat of trade-related introductions, although chain store employees were more willing to assign responsibility for reducing this threat to the aquarium industry than were independent store employees. Management efforts for this vector should focus on (a) improving labeling and identification of fish species in stores, (b) expanding the often spotty data on fish physiological tolerances, especially for saltwater species, (c) educating customers and store employees about the risks posed by pet release, and (d) providing better options for responsible disposal of unwanted fish.

Subfields: Ecology, Molecular Biology, Nature and Landscape Conservation

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/5b6e6a432636c63b0b7080f2f64d0edd0ab143ca

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Citations in the corpus

Risk and benefit assessment of alien fish species of the aquaculture and aquarium trade into India (2011, background): “Introducing species accidentally or intentionally from one habitat into another is a risky business (Lakra et al. 2008; Chang et al. 2009; De Silva et al. 2009).”
The aquarium hobby: can sinners become saints in freshwater fish conservation? (2016, background): “In an effort to reduce such pernicious effects, conservationists advocate applying the precautionary principle through the prohibition of trade for highly invasive aquarium species and the development of educational programmes for aquarists and other stakeholders to reduce the release of invasive sp”
The Aquarium Trade as an Invasion Pathway in the Pacific Northwest (2011, background): “Our results concur with the study of Chang et al. (2009) in the San Francisco Bay-Delta region, where independent retailers generally sold greater numbers of fish species compared to chain stores. Goldfish, Siamese fighting fish, neon tetras (Paracheirodon innesi), and guppies and/or mollies all occ”
The freshwater aquarium trade as a vector for incidental invertebrate fauna (2010, background): “taxa intentionally (i.e., deliberately) carried by the aquarium trade (e.g., fish, aquatic plants and large snail species; Rixon et al. 2005; Cohen et al. 2007; Chang et al. 2009 ).”
Invasion risks posed by ornamental freshwater fish trade to southeastern Brazilian rivers (2013, background): “…models by non-native ornamental fish exist for temperate regions, such as those of Gertzen et al. (2008), Kolar & Lodge (2002), Rixon et al. (2005), Chang et al. (2009), Strecker et al. (2011) for North America, and for sub-tropical/tropical regions such as the one developed by Bomford & Glover…”