Aquatic invasive species distribution within Wallace region: a preliminary review

Abstract

The introduction of many aquatic species into new habitats have been recorded to be invasive and later threatened the native species present in that habitat. The unique biogeography of the Wallace region, particularly Sulawesi Island characterized by having high endemic fauna. Several lakes in Sulawesi have experienced the population reduction of endemic species due to introduced species that become invasive. This paper intended to review the aquatic invasive species and their distribution in the Wallace region. The literature review revealed the number of invasive species introduced in the Wallace region varies from 1 species to 12 species, the highest found in Lake Tondano. This preliminary review record that Malili lakes are most researched, both for endemic species and invasive species, based on the number of publications found through an internet search, with publications on endemic species, are more than invasive species. Among 13 lakes in Sulawesi, 4 lakes, namely Lake Moat, Sidendreng, Wawanloa, and Masapi, have no record on aquatic invasive species. A similar situation also happens in Maluku. The information on the mode and reason for fish introduction into Appo Swamp in West Sulawesi and watershed in Manggarai Regency, East Nusa Tenggara, is still lacking. All in all, the conclusive cause and effect of introduced species that become invasive on the endemic species in the region is need to be prove or unproven based on scientific data. At this time, the literature review has not been able to find documentation on marine invasive species in the Wallace region. As for invasive species management, prevention is better than eradication.

Anthropogenic introduction of the Spotted Barb, Barbodes binotatus, across the Wallace Line in western Sulawesi, Indonesia

“…Unfortunately, although Sulawesi Island is a region with enormous freshwater fish species with a high degree of endemism, its ichthyo-biodiversity is under severe threat due to the introduction of invasive species. These several invasive fish species, e.g., O. niloticus, Cichlasoma nigrofasciatum (Günther, 1867), Poecilia reticulata Peters, 1859, Anabas testudineus (Bloch, 1792), Aplocheilus panchax (Hamilton, 1822), have been reported to be introduced and caused negative impacts towards native species in this island (Herder et al 2012;Umar et al 2015;Nasution et al 2019;Parenti 2019;Hedianto and Sentosa 2020;Yanuarita et al 2020). Introducing invasive fish species will cause negative consequences, e.g., predation and competition for native and endemic species, ecological imbalances, or even disruption in food webs, which will eventually cause a significant decline in the native biodiversity (Islami 2020;Saba et al 2021).…”

Characterizing spatial patterns among freshwater fishes and shrimps of the Poso River (Sulawesi, Indonesia) using DNA barcoding

“…The expansion of the invasive sh species could result in reduced abundance of native sh and species diversity, and lead to the extinction of native sh species (Gaye-Siessegger et al 2022; Zhao et al 2019). This phenomenon is exempli ed by the unfortunate loss of native sh species such as Adrianichthys kruyti and Xenopoecilus poptae in Lake Poso, attributed to the introduction of Nile Tilapia (Yanuarita et al 2020). Notably, the rapid reproductive rates of non-native sh have been observed to outcompete and displace native species (Escobar et al 2018;Saba et al 2021).…”

Review of Marine Invasive Species Distribution Pattern in Indonesia

“…In addition to dissemination through fish restocking, one of the primary pathways for introducing foreign species is the ease with which aquatic biota can be sold globally. According to [2], local or native fishes are threatened by the increasing number of invasive species, mostly for aquaculture and aquarium purposes. Many studies on invasive species in Indonesia have been discovered due to the many species introduced recently.…”

“…Another meaning of invasive species is a species, whether native or not, that massively colonizes a habitat [1]. IUCN defines invasive species as species which become established in natural or semi-natural ecosystems, threaten native biological diversity [2], and are introduced intentionally or unintentionally outside their natural geography into an area where they are not naturally present [2]. The presence of invasive species can harm local species, affect the balance of the ecosystem, and affect biodiversity.…”