Authors: K V Radhakrishnan Zhao Jun Lan Jun Zhao Ning Qing Xio Lin Huang
Publish Date: 2011/04/27
Volume: 13, Issue: 8, Pages: 1723-1727
Abstract
We record here the invasion of the African sharptooth catfish Clarias gariepinus in the South China biodiversity hotspot an area rich in endemic and endangered fish fauna C gariepinus was introduced into the natural systems as escapees from aquaculture ponds These catfishes are very large top predators and thus have the potential to cause serious threats to the native fish fauna The impact of C gariepinus needs more investigation with emphasis on developing techniques for controlling its dispersalWe thank Ms Annie Simpson USGS and Mr Thomas Esson Virginia Tech for critically reviewing and suggesting comments on the initial version of the manuscript Thanks are due to Dr Lin Hung Du National ChengKung University and the students in the Ichthyology Laboratory South China Normal University for their help in field investigations This research was financially supported by Science and Technology Research projects of Guangdong Province 2005A20105001 2006B20701001 2006B20201002 and 2009B060600007 and the bid inviting project of Guangdong Agricultural Bureau 08090741G2G33324/01
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