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18 02 2011

The Risks of the Aquarium Fish Industry

Posted by: Caitlin Finn in SW5, tags: , ,

Aquarium and ornamental fish trade is one of the most dangerous and rapidly growing vectors for invasive species. Andrew Chang and his team from the Department of Environmental Science and Policy at the University of California examined the invasion risk posed by aquarium fish in the San Francisco Bay-Delta region by identifying potentially invasive species sold in local stores.

Chang’s team identified freshwater and saltwater fish species in pet stores around the Bay-Delta area and compared their temperature and salinity requirements to local environmental data. Under conservative estimates, the pet stores sold three potentially invasive freshwater species and two saltwater species. However, under less conservative estimates, which allowed more realistic temperature variations, they found nine freshwater and eighteen saltwater invaders. Additionally, in the researcher’s survey, most pet store employees agreed the potential invaders represent a serious threat to the Bay-Delta ecosystem. This study represents a step towards identifying species with high invasion risk and taking action against their introduction.

Biological Invasions. doi: 10.1007/s10530-008-9292-4 (2009).

This entry was posted on Friday, February 18th, 2011 at 4:11 pm and is filed under SW5. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.



2 Responses to “The Risks of the Aquarium Fish Industry”

  1.   Michael Potts Says:
    February 18th, 2011 at 9:01 pm

    Wow this is really interesting. I wonder though why the government would allow so many potentially invasive species to be sold as pets by pet stores. The people in charge have to know that there will be someone that might dump his/her fish into the local bodies of water. I am intrigued to know whether this is also the case for invasive terrestrial species as well. Good, concise explanation of the journal article.

  2.   Caitlin Finn Says:
    February 24th, 2011 at 12:51 am

    Thanks! It seems like everything is a business. People sell potentially invasive species because it is profitable. However, the even more outrageous source of invasive species is the internet. Basically anybody can buy nearly any invasive species and have it shipped to any location. I’m not an expert, but there seem to be very few restrictions in internet trade.