Promoting community-based surveillance of economically important invasive species in lower-income economies: a case study of the suckermouth catfish (Pterygoplichthys pardalis) in Bangladesh

Abstract

The distribution of invasive species in lower-income economies is relatively poorly understood, and many countries do not actively curate a list of species invasions or have programs to monitor or mitigate the effects of non-native species within their borders. Methods leveraging new technologies and expanding access to the internet may offer the opportunity to support low-cost and large-scale monitoring efforts. Here, we demonstrate how the use of online news coverage can support initial attempts to map the distribution of an economically-important, non-naïve freshwater sh in Bangladesh (Ptergoplichthys sp.). By initiating new collaborations between the scienti c and online journalism communities, governments and organizations may be able to enhance their abilities to map the distribution of non-native species and develop new programs to support public awareness of species invasion at relatively low cost.

Invasive Suckermouth catfishes (Siluriformes: Loricariidae) in Bangladesh wetlands: A review on the present status and challenges

“…Recently, Parvez et al (2023) reported Vermiculated sailfin catfish (Pterygoplichtys disjunctivus) from 17 rivers across Bangladesh. Further presence of various suckermouth catfishes in the water bodies has been reported by Hanif et al (2015), Abdullah Al Mamun et al (2023 and Afrin et al (2023). As most of these are morphologically identified (Figure 2), we suspect there is two to three species in nature.…”

Insights on the distribution, catch and release and public sentiment towards recreational angling of mahseers—A study of YouTube videos from India

“…While analysing the videos, we found IAF being caught accidentally by some of the anglers targeting mahseers. Because IAF are emerging as a threat to indigenous species including mahseers (Gupta et al, 2020; Raghavan et al, 2011) and the exploration of internet data is evolving as a tool to get insights on their presence and distribution in an ecosystem (Mamun et al, 2023), each video collected was checked for the presence of such species. Mining of YouTube data, available on the public domain, does not require any specific ethical clearance.…”

Landing the ‘Tiger of Rivers’: Understanding Recreational Angling of Mahseers in India using YouTube Videos

“…While analysing the videos, we found Invasive Alien Fishes (IAF) being caught accidentally by some of the anglers targeting mahseers. Since IAF are emerging as a threat to indigenous species including mahseers (Raghavan et al 2011;Gupta et al 2020) and the exploration of internet data is evolving as a tool to get insights on their presence and distribution in an ecosystem (Mamun et al 2023) each video collected was checked for the presence of such species. Mining of YouTube data, available on the public domain, does not require any specific ethical clearance.…”