Topic II Management of River Systems

The Problem with Aliens - Invasive Fish

The fish faunas of the world are changing rapidly. In freshwater in particular, the extinction of endemic species is becoming common whilst tolerant, aggressive species invade degraded ecosystems. The loss of biodiversity has often been caused by the spread of species assisted by man. The most spectacular examples of this have occurred in the Laurentian Lakes (Great Lakes of North America) and the Great Lakes of East Africa, however, similar processes are occurring in our own backyard in the UK. For this part of the course, you should be able to understand the causes of change in the distribution of British Fish and compare them to the changes elsewhere. An extensive set of notes on the situation in the UK is provided which are related to the lecture and can be downloaded as a Word6 file.

Handout sheet from Lecture on Invasive Fish in British Waters
More extensive notes on Invasive Fish in British Waters

There is much good information on the impact of invading fish species in North America and Africa available on the web or in standard ichthyology text books - or follow the links provided below.

North America - general links

Special Site set up for Non-indigenous Aquatic Species in the USA : http://nas.er.usgs.gov/
Listing of non-indigenous fish in the USA : http://nas.er.usgs.gov/fishes/index.html

Links for individual spp of invasive fish

Alewife

Basic info on the Alewife
Everything you ever wanted to know about the ALEWIFE, (Alosa pseudoharengus) http://nas.er.usgs.gov/fishes/accounts/clupeida/al_pseud.html
Pretty pictures and basic info on the Alewife : 
 http://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/greatlakesfish/alewife.html
Info on Alewife dieoff : http://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/greatlakesfish/alewifenews.html

Common Carp

The Common Carp has now colonised waters in every state of the USA except Alaska: http://nas.er.usgs.gov/fishes/accounts/cyprinid/cy_carpi.html

Zander

Zander (Stizostedion lucioperca) For further information

Ruffe

Everything you ever wanted to know about the Ruffe in the USA : http://nas.er.usgs.gov/fishes/accounts/percidae/gy_cernu.html
Summary Report on Ruffe in the Great Lakes (pdf format, 2.9MB) : http://www.glfc.org/pubs/SpecialPubs/RuffeReport.pdf

Major database and bibliography on Ruffe
http://www.fw.umn.edu/research/ruffe/

Sea Lamprey

Predation can result in rapid and drastic changes in a fish fauna when an exotic piscivore into a community of fishes not adapted to its style of predation. the Sea Lamprey was able to virtually wipe out the populations of large fishes in the upper Great Lakes in less than 20 years. Everything you ever wanted to know about the Sea Lamprey (Petromyzon marinus Linnaeus 1758) : http://nas.er.usgs.gov/fishes/accounts/petromyz/pe_marin.html

Nile Perch

Nile perch have made major changes, pushing nearly 200 endemic species in Lake Victoria towards extinction. For further information

(Last Updated 30/10/02)

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