African Tilapia in Lake Nicaragua Author(s): Kenneth R. McKaye, Joseph D. Ryan, Jay R. Stauffer, Jr., Lorenzo J. Lopez Perez, Gabriel I. Vega, Eric P. van den Berghe Source: BioScience, Vol. 45, No. 6 (Jun., 1995), pp. 406-411 Published by: University of California Press on behalf of the American Institute of Biological Sciences Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1312721 . Accessed: 29/08/2011 17:58 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact
[email protected]. University of California Press and American Institute of Biological Sciences are collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to BioScience. http://www.jstor.org African Tilapia in Lake Nicaragua Ecosystem in transition Kenneth R. McKaye, Joseph D. Ryan, Jay R. Stauffer Jr., Lorenzo J. Lopez Perez, Gabriel I. Vega, and Eric P. van den Berghe L ake Nicaragua contains more (1.17 x 105 km2) flow into the Car- than 40 species of fish, in- ibbean Sea and discharge an im- cluding 16 recognized spe- Swift, aggressive mense amount of fresh water (ap- cies (Thorson 1976) of native management of tilapia proximately 2.6 x 1011 m3) and cichlids and additional undescribed suspended sediments along the 450 cichlids.1 The lake is also inhabited is needed to mitigate km of coast.