Freshwater Fish Invasions: A Comprehensive Review

Abstract

Freshwater fish have been widely introduced worldwide, and freshwater ecosystems are among those most affected by biological invasions. Consequently, freshwater fish invasions are one of the most documented invasions among animal taxa, with much information available about invasive species, their characteristics, invaded regions, invasion pathways, impacts, and management. While existing reviews address specific aspects of freshwater fish invasions, there is still a gaping lack of comprehensive assessments of freshwater fish invasions that simultaneously address pivotal and connected elements of the invasion process. Here, we provide a holistic review, together with quantitative assessments, divided into four major parts: ( a) introduction pathways, ( b) characteristics of nonnative species and invaded ecosystems that explain successful invasion processes, ( c) invasion impacts and their mechanisms, and ( d) management. We highlight data gaps and biases in the current databases and highlight a basic lack of understanding of several aspects of freshwater fish invasions. In addition, we provide recommendations for future studies. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics, Volume 53 is November 2022. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.

Species invasiveness and community invasibility of North American freshwater fish fauna revealed via trait-based analysis

“…In contrast, although other traits of non-native species also significantly differed from those of native species, their contribution to species invasiveness remained negligible. This could be explained by the complexity of the invasive process (including introduction, establishment, and spread steps, each determined by distinct drivers) and the variety of factors that might affect invasion success (e.g., propagule pressure or temporal dynamics of introduction) 26 , 34 , 35 . Indeed, our results show that the human use index, employed as a surrogate for propagule pressure in the model, remains an important predictor of species invasiveness, suggesting that human interest is a non-negligible factor in the process of species invasion, especially in the introduction stage 2 .…”

“…Communities with functions supported by unique species should therefore be more vulnerable to invasions than communities with strong functional packing. In addition, functional relatedness between native and non-native species was also considered as another important factor that could affect community invasibility 25 , 26 . For instance, Elleouet et al 25 used a trait-based approach to show that non-native and native species filled a similar global functional space in the Mediterranean coastal marine fish fauna.…”

When origin, reproduction ability and diet define the role of birds in invasions

“…small clutches and investment in future reproductive events) was known to favour the establishment of aliens [20]. Nevertheless, as establishment and impact are two separate stages of invasion, they are likely to filter out species with different traits [57]. Furthermore, introduced birds are a non-random sample of worldwide birds, with some families and characteristics like large body size (and thus ‘slow’ reproductive rates) being preferentially selected for hunting or pet trade [58,59].…”

Freshwater as a Sustainable Resource and Generator of Secondary Resources in the 21st Century: Stressors, Threats, Risks, Management and Protection Strategies, and Conservation Approaches

“…From an ecological point of view, one of the most important causes of freshwater changes is biological invasion [ 183 ]. Aquaculture, sport fishing, the biological control of mosquitoes and water plants, the aquarium and pet trade, education and research activities, accidents, and illegal introduction are the main reasons for invasion [ 184 , 185 ].…”

“…Native fishes are especially affected by the introduction of alien and invasive fish species [ 184 , 185 , 186 , 187 , 188 ], lowering their reproduction success [ 189 , 190 , 191 ] and/or harming their ecology through trophic interactions [ 192 ]. In addition to these effects, environmental impacts have been reported such as eutrophication and increased nutrient loading [ 193 , 194 ] and reductions in invertebrate populations, such as benthic organisms [ 195 ] and zooplankton communities [ 196 ].…”