Aquatic Invasions (2019) Volume 14, Issue 4: 775–814 CORRECTED PROOF Research Article Asian swamp eels in North America linked to the live-food trade and prayer-release rituals Leo G. Nico1,*, Andrew J. Ropicki2, Jay V. Kilian3 and Matthew Harper4 1U.S. Geological Survey, 7920 NW 71st Street, Gainesville, Florida 32653, USA 2University of Florida, 1095 McCarty Hall B, Gainesville, Florida 32611, USA 3Maryland Department of Natural Resources, Resource Assessment Service, 580 Taylor Avenue, Annapolis, Maryland 21401, USA 4Maryland National Capital Park and Planning Commission, Montgomery County Parks, Silver Spring, Maryland 20901, USA Author e-mails:
[email protected] (LGN),
[email protected] (AJR),
[email protected] (JVK),
[email protected] (MH) *Corresponding author Citation: Nico LG, Ropicki AJ, Kilian JV, Harper M (2019) Asian swamp eels in Abstract North America linked to the live-food trade and prayer-release rituals. Aquatic Invasions We provide a history of swamp eel (family Synbranchidae) introductions around the 14(4): 775–814, https://doi.org/10.3391/ai. globe and report the first confirmed nonindigenous records of Amphipnous cuchia 2019.14.4.14 in the wild. The species, native to Asia, is documented from five sites in the USA: Received: 23 March 2019 the Passaic River, New Jersey (2007), Lake Needwood, Maryland (2014), a stream Accepted: 12 July 2019 in Pennsylvania (2015), the Tittabawassee River, Michigan (2017), and Meadow Lake, Published: 2 September 2019 New York (2017). The international live-food trade constitutes the major introduction pathway, a conclusion based on: (1) United States Fish and Wildlife Service’s Law Handling editor: Yuriy Kvach Enforcement Management Information System (LEMIS) database records revealing Thematic editor: Elena Tricarico regular swamp eel imports from Asia since at least the mid-1990s; (2) surveys (2001– Copyright: © Nico et al.