First record of Amatitlania nigrofasciata (Günther, 1867) (Cichliformes: Cichlidae) as introduced species in natural freshwaters of Colombia

Abstract

Amatitlania nigrofasciata is a small freshwater fish species native to Central America. Is a popular ornamental fish that has been traded and cultivated for the aquarium industry, introduced into temperate and tropical regions across the world. Two specimens of A. nigrofasciata were collected from two small creeks draining into the Guavio River, upper Meta River in Mambita, Ubalá, Cundinamarca, Colombia in the Piedmont Orinoco ecoregion. This is the first record of A. nigrofasciata in natural freshwaters of Colombia and the Orinoco River basin. Diagnostic characters of species and updated distribution at country level are provided.

Experimental evidence of the role of heterochrony in evolution of the Mesoamerican cichlids pigment patterns

“…This finding coupled with molecular data encouraged them to synonymize A. coatepeque with A. nigrofasciata . Other significant natural variations in convict cichlid coloration have not been described, and even in populations introduced in waterbodies located outside the native distributional range, A. nigrofasciata displays normal pigment patterns (Herrera, Murcia‐Castillo, & Prada‐Pedreros, ). The exceptionally low level of phenotypic plasticity provides evidence that pigment pattern in natural populations of A. nigrofasciata is strongly constrained.…”

Has a non‐native cichlid of the genus Amatitlania (Actinopterygii, Cichlidae) adapted to the headwaters in Brazilian semi‐arid?

“…Standard length is under 100 mm (Schmiter-Soto, 2007), with females reaching sexual maturity at less than 35 mm (Ishikawa & Tachihara, 2010). The aquarium trade exports convict cichlids to many parts of the world, especially the species A. nigrofasciata (Duffy, Snow, & Bird, 2013;Esmaeili et al, Esmaelli et al, 2013;Herrera-R, Murcia-Castillo, & Prada-Pedreros, 2016;Ishikawa & Tachihara, 2010).…”

Segregación espacial y trófica entre el cíclido invasor Amatitlania nigrofasciata y el nativo Herichthys pantostictus en la Reserva de la Biosfera Barranca de Metztitlán, Hidalgo, México

“…Su distribución en la vertiente del Pacífico comprende desde el río Sucio en El Salvador hasta el río Suchiate en Guatemala y en la vertiente atlántica desde el río Patuca, Honduras hasta el río Jutiapa, Guatemala (Schmitter-Soto et al, 2007). Es ampliamente utilizado en el comercio de peces ornamentales y es precisamente a partir de liberaciones accidentales durante esta actividad, que ha sido introducido en diversas regiones del mundo: EUA (Courtenay et al, 1984), Israel (Welcomme, 1988), Hawái (Eldredge, 1994), México (Contreras-MacBeath et al, 2014), Reunión (Keith et al, 2006), Perú (Cossios, 2010, Japón (Ishikawa y Tachihara, 2010), Irán (Reza-Esmaeili et al, 2013), Australia (Duffy et al, 2013), Italia (Bianco, 2014), China (Xiong et al, 2015), Hungría (Takács et al, 2017), Colombia (Herrera-R. et al, 2017) y Brasil (Gurgel-Lourenço et al, 2019). Su amplia tolerancia ambiental y la capacidad de colonizar hábitats perturbados, el oportunismo trófico, el cuidado biparental, su agresividad durante la competencia territorial, rápida tasa de crecimiento, maduración temprana y periodos de desove largos con múltiples puestas, muy probablemente contribuyen al éxito del establecimiento de este cíclido en islas y otras regiones (CABI, 2019;Gagliardi-Seeley, 2012;Ishikawa y Tachihara, 2010;McKaye, 1977;Wisenden, 1994;Yamamoto y Tagawa, 2000).…”