Research Article Mediterranean Marine Science Indexed in WoS (Web of Science, ISI Thomson) and SCOPUS The journal is available on line at http://www.medit-mar-sc.net DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.12681/mms.484 Ornamental fish in pet stores in Greece: a threat to biodiversity? I. PAPAVLASOPOULOU1, L. VARDAKAS2, C. PERDIKARIS3, D. KOMMATAS2 and I. PASCHOS4 1 MSc course ‘Aquaculture’, Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Thessaly and Department of Aquaculture & Fisheries, Technological Educational Institute of Epirus, Greece 2 Institute of Marine Biological Resources & Inland Waters, Hellenic Centre for Marine Research, 19013 Anavissos, Attica, Greece 3 Department of Fisheries, Regional Unit of Thesprotia, Region of Epirus, 46100 Igoumenitsa, Greece 4 Department of Aquaculture & Fisheries, Technological Educational Institute of Epirus, 46100 Igoumenitsa, Greece Corresponding author:
[email protected] Handling Editor: Stelios Katsanevakis Received: 30 May 2013; Accepted: 25 September 2013; Published on line: 6 December 2013 Abstract The aquarium trade has been recognized as an important pathway for the introduction of invasive species around the world. This study investigates the availability of ornamental fish species in ten large-size, centrally positioned aquarium stores that con- trol a large share of imports and the Hellenic market chain, and aims to provide a provisional checklist on the aquarium fish trade in Greece. For each recorded species, additional data concerning various aspects (e.g. natural environment, native range, established as aliens, conservation status and threats to humans) were collected from Fishbase, the IUCN red list and scientific literature. Overall, 326 fish species belonging to 64 families were reported according to the store labels.