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| Fish Conservation |
Category :
Food & Drink |
| Posted on : February 1, 2011, 7:11 am |
Author : AR Quimada |
In many places, cichlids are threatened in the wild. For example, in Lake Victoria in eastern Africa, hundreds of species of cichlid fishes have gone extinct in the past few decades, largely the result of the introduction of the Nile perch, Lates niloticus, into Lake Victoria. The cichlids of Central and South America are facing similar fates but for different reasons. Pollution, the damming of rivers and exotic introductions are severely impacting a growing number of cichlids. In Madagascar, overfishing, habitat destruction and introduced exotics have reduced the native cichlids to crisis levels.
Surprisingly, in some cases, the introduced exotics that are causing so many problems are themselves cichlids, typically tilapia. Many introductions are Tilapia (=Saratherodon) mossambicus, or one of its close relatives or man-made hybrids. These fish have phenomenal powers of reproduction and can rapidly displace native species. Tilapia are sometimes introduced deliberately and in other times escape from aquaculture facilities. Because tilapia grow quickly and reproduce prodigously, they are often used for aquaculture in many parts of the world. They are often sold as "Saint Peter's fish" in markets.
In other localities, convict cichlids have been introduced and appear to outcompete native fishes. Convicts are found in many locations outside the normal range of cichlids, including hot springs in California, Nevada and even Banff, Canada. They have also been introduced to localities which contain cichlids where they displace the native cichlids (e.g. in Mexico). |
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