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Abundance of invasive peacock bass increases with water residence time of reservoirs in southeastern Brazil

Hydrobiologia volume 817, pages 155–166 (2018)Cite this article

Abstract

Neotropical freshwater ecosystems are experiencing a great expansion in the number of invasive species, which is especially alarming since this region harbours 30% of the world’s fish biodiversity with high levels of endemism. We aimed to evaluate the main predictors of peacock basses (Cichla spp.) abundance outside their native range, which are the Amazon and Tocantins-Araguaia river basins. We used multivariate ordination techniques and multimodel inference to analyse peacock basses abundance in twelve reservoirs of the Paraíba do Sul river basin, southeastern Brazil. Interestingly, reservoirs at higher (southernmost) latitudes, located in more populated areas, had higher water temperature and lower turbidity, due to increased water residence time, and these three variables were also positively correlated with abundance of this warm-water invasive fish. Habitat structure was less important in explaining peacock basses abundance, which was not significantly related to biotic factors (fish species richness and time since peacock basses introduction). We hypothesize that the observed effects of reservoir management on limnological features and peacock bass abundance, particularly water residence time (as a mediator of temperature and turbidity), may apply to other Neotropical basins and could influence the impact of this invader.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the Graduate Courses in Ecology (PPGE-UFRJ) and Neotropical Biodiversity (PPGBIO-UNIRIO). We also thank people at Laboratório de Ictiologia Teórica e Aplicada for providing logistic support and two anonymous reviewers for helpful comments that greatly improved the manuscript. This work was funded by Fundação Carlos Chagas Filho de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (Research Grant to LNS, E-112.644/2012, E-26/202.840/2015), Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) (Research Grant to LNS, ref. 312194/2015-3), and Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) (sandwich doctorate scholarship to ACSF, ref. 88887.127440/2016-00 and visiting professorship to EGB, ref. 88881.068352/2014-01). EGB was also supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (Projects and CGL2015-69311-REDT, CGL2016-80820-R and PCIN-2016-168) and the Government of Catalonia (ref. 2014 SGR 484).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. PVE-CAPES Foundation, Graduate Course in Ecology, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Av. Carlos Chagas Filho, 373, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, 21941-902, Brazil

    Ana Clara Sampaio Franco

  2. Laboratório de Ictiologia Teórica e Aplicada, Universidade Federal do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Av. Pasteur, 458 – R314A, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, 22290-240, Brazil

    Ana Clara Sampaio Franco, Luciano Neves dos Santos & Emili García-Berthou

  3. Núcleo em Ecologia e Desenvolvimento Socioambiental de Macaé, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Avenida São José do Barreto, 764, Macaé, RJ, 27965-045, Brazil

    Ana Cristina Petry

  4. GRECO, Institute of Aquatic Ecology, University of Girona, 17003, Girona, Catalonia, Spain

    Ana Clara Sampaio Franco & Emili García-Berthou

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  1. Ana Clara Sampaio Franco
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  2. Luciano Neves dos Santos
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  4. Emili García-Berthou
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Correspondence to Ana Clara Sampaio Franco.

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Guest editors: John E. Havel, Sidinei M. Thomaz, Lee B. Kats, Katya E. Kovalenko & Luciano N. Santos / Aquatic Invasive Species II

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Franco, A.C.S., dos Santos, L.N., Petry, A.C. et al. Abundance of invasive peacock bass increases with water residence time of reservoirs in southeastern Brazil. Hydrobiologia 817, 155–166 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-017-3467-x

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Keywords

  • Cichlidae
  • Cichla ocellaris
  • Invasive species
  • Neotropical reservoir
  • Paraíba do Sul river basin
  • Reservoir limnology