A review of changes in the fish assemblages of Levantine inland and marine ecosystems following the introduction of non‐native fishes

By M. Goren, B. Galil. 2005

148 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Summary The arrival of non-native fishes in the Levant Basin began in the late 19th century. Whereas the presence of most of the 40 non-native freshwater fishes stem from intentional introductions, either for aquaculture or pest control, the 62 species of non-native marine fishes arrived by natural dispersal via the Suez Canal. Of the non-native freshwater species, five have established successful breeding populations (mosquitofish Gambusia affinis, common carp Cyprinus carpio, crucian carp Carassius carassius, swordtail Xiphophorus hellerii and rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss), and seven are regularly stocked in natural habitats (thinlip mullet Liza ramada, flathead mullet Mugil cephalus, European eel Anguilla anguilla, grass carp Ctenopharyngodon idella, Asian silver carp Hypophthalmichthys molitrix, bighead carp Aristichthys nobilis, black carp Mylopharyngodon piceus). Some non-native species appear to have out-competed native species. Gambusia affinis may have caused the extirpation of two native cyprinid fishes from the Qishon River basin (Levant silver carp Hemigrammocapoeta nana and common garra Garra rufa) and the southern Dead Sea (endemic Sodom’s garra G. ghoerensis). The opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 allowed entry into the eastern Mediterranean of Indo-Pacific and Erythrean biota, with the latter now dominating the community structure (50–90% of fish biomass) and function (altered native food web) of the Levantine littoral and infra-littoral zones. The process has accelerated in recent years concurrent with a warming trend of the seawater. Record numbers of newly discovered non-native species is leading to the creation of a human-assisted Erythrean biotic province in the eastern Mediterranean.

Subfields: Aquatic Science, Global and Planetary Change, Nature and Landscape Conservation

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/e4d636a5aebf7c53aef8b126d12c284beb5566e6

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Citations in the corpus

Resolving the effect of climate change on fish populations (2009, background): “With a warming trend of the seawater and a significant drop in the Canal’s salinity to “normal” marine levels (Mavruk and Avsar, 2007), record numbers of newly established non-native fish species have been observed recently in the southeastern Mediterranean Sea, resulting in the creation of a human-”
Rainbow Trout in Europe: Introduction, Naturalization, and Impacts (2015, background): “, 2005); the Levant basin (Goren and Galil, 2005); parts of South Africa and Zimbabwe and over parts of East Africa including Kenya and Ethiopia, and also on La R eunion Island (MacCrimmon, 1971; Ngugi, 1999; Cambray, 2003; Berrebi, 2006; Kadye et al.”
Marine shelf habitat: biogeography and evolution (2013, background): “From the Red Sea, more than 300 species including more than 60 fishes have invaded the Mediterranean by means of the Suez Canal (Goren & Galil, 2005).”
Effects of invasive Pacific red lionfish Pterois volitans versus a native predator on Bahamian coral-reef fish communities (2012, background): “…that introduced marine fishes, when successful, may cause deleterious changes in native ecosystems (Friedlander et al. 2002; Bariche et al. 2004; Goren and Galil 2005; Schumacher and Parrish 2005; Dierking et al. 2009), unequivocal causal linkages between these introductions and observed…”
Seeing red: alien species along the Mediterranean coast of Israel. (2007, background): “…1996, 1998, 2000a,b, 2002, 2004, 2006, Golani and Ben Tuvia 1982, 1990, Golani and Fine 2002, Golani and Sonin 1992, 2006; Goren and Aronov 2002, Goren and Galil 1989, 1998, 2001, 2005, 2006, Mienis 1976 a,b, 1977a,b, 1979, 1980a,b, 1984, 1985 a,b, 1987, 1990, 1992a,b, 1995, 1999, 2000a,b,…”
Increasing southern invasion enhances congruence between endemic and exotic Mediterranean fish fauna (2009, background): “For the last 30‐40 years, the temperature of the western Mediterranean Sea has been rising in deep (Bethoux et al. 1990) and surface (Diaz Almela et al. 2007) waters, which is reflected in the increased presence of thermophilic marine species (Ben Yami 1955; Chervinsky 1959 both cited in Goren and ”
Restructuring the Sea: profound shifts in the world's most invaded marine ecosystem (2013, background): “A staggering 84 Indo-Pacific fish species have invaded the eastern Mediterranean since the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 (updated by us from Golani, 2010 with the most recent invasive record made by Goren et al., 2011).”
The Mediterranean Sea as a ‘cul‐de‐sac’ for endemic fishes facing climate change (2010, background): “…at depth (Bethoux et al., 1990; Rixen et al., 2005) and at the surface (Diaz Almela et al., 2007), and this reflects increased occurrences of thermophilic marine species (Goren & Galil, 2005) and shifts in fish geographic distributions (Sabates et al., 2006; Ben Rais Lasram & Mouillot, 2009).”
Additions to the annotated list of marine alien biota in the mediterranean with special emphasis on foraminifera and parasites (2008, background): “It is one of the worst alien fish in the eastern Mediterranean according to some authors (i.e. GOREN & GALIL, 2005; GALIL, 2008), since the species and its hybrids have replaced the native killifish, A. fasciatus, along the Mediterranean coast of Israel.”
Alien Marine Species in the Mediterranean - the 100 'Worst Invasives' and their Impact (2006, unknown): “The invasive ﬁ sh dominate the structure and function of littoral ecosystems on the Levan-tine coast, representing 50-90% of the ﬁ sh biomass (GOREN & GALIL, 2005).”
Marine biogeography and ecology: invasions and introductions (2007, background): “This information has been analysed in a review of fish assemblage changes by Goren & Galil (2005).”
The ‘shifting baseline’ phenomenon: a global perspective (2008, background): “biotic province in the Eastern Mediterranean (Goren and Galil 2005).”
To be, or not to be, a non‐native freshwater fish? (2005, background): “…others fishes, especially Cyprinodontoidea (Ronchetti, 1968), endemic Iberian species of toothcarp (Caiola and de Sostoa, 2005) and possibly Levant silver carp Hemigrammocapoeta nana, common garra Garra rufa and the southern Dead Sea endemic, Sodom’s garra Garra ghoerensis (Goren and Galil, 2005).”