Record of Three Non-Native Fish Species from the Alvarado Lagoon, Veracruz, Mexico
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BioInvasions Records (2021) Volume 10, Issue 1: 200–209 CORRECTED PROOF Rapid Communication Record of three non-native fish species from the Alvarado Lagoon, Veracruz, Mexico Luis Fernando Del Moral-Flores1, Eduardo López-Segovia1,2, Andrea Colis-Torres3 and Tao Hernández-Arellano1,* 1Laboratorio de Zoología, Facultad de Estudios Superiores Iztacala, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Av. de los Barrios No. 1, Los Reyes Iztacala, C.P. 54090 Tlalnepantla, Estado de México, México 2Posgrado en Ciencias del Mar y Limnología, Instituto de Ciencias Del Mar y Limnología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Av. Ciudad Universitaria 3000, C.P. 04510, Coyoacán, Ciudad de México, México 3Posgrado en Ciencias Bioquímicas, Instituto de Biotecnología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Cuernavaca, Morelos, México *Corresponding author E-mail: [email protected] Citation: Del Moral-Flores LF, López- Segovia E, Colis-Torres A, Hernández- Abstract Arellano T (2021) Record of three non- native fish species from the Alvarado The proliferation of non-native species in the freshwater ecosystems of East Central Lagoon, Veracruz, Mexico. BioInvasions Mexico is considered a primary threat to the integrity of local native community Records 10(1): 200–209, https://doi.org/10. structure. However, a general understanding of consistent and predictable impacts 3391/bir.2021.10.1.21 of non-native species on native freshwater diversity is limited, in part, because of a Received: 5 December 2019 lack of broad-scale studies including data from numerous localities across multiple Accepted: 10 July 2020 drainages. In this study, we captured 85 neotropical fish belonging to nine species Published: 14 November 2020 in the Alvarado Lagoon, Veracruz, southeast from the Gulf of Mexico. Of these, the presence of three non-native species was confirmed: the pantano cichlid Cincelichthys Handling editor: Jean Ricardo Simões Vitule pearsei, the jaguar cichlid Parachromis managuensis and the vermiculated sailfin Thematic editor: Michal Janáč catfish Pterygoplichthys disjunctivus. The species settlement in the region is a consequence of aquaculture practices with food purpose and ornamental production. Copyright: © Del Moral-Flores et al. This is an open access article distributed under terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License Key words: aquaculture, Cichlidae, invasive species, Papaloapan River basin, (Attribution 4.0 International - CC BY 4.0). Loricariidae OPEN ACCESS. Introduction The term “non-native species” refers to an infra or supraspecific species, subspecies or taxa introduced outside their natural distribution and with an increased distribution outside their natural range, including any part, gamete or propagule of such species (CBD 2009). These species are further classified as: translocated (introductions within the country from another river basin or freshwater ecoregion within a country) and exotic (introductions from another country, or continents) (Vitule et al. 2019). Based on this concept all of the native species of Mexico, that have been translocated to an area or region different from their natural or original one, are called non-native species (Medellín-Legorreta 2014). The capacity of survival, the rate of reproduction and the ease of establishment in the new habitat of non-native species represents a threat to native biodiversity, affecting public health and local economy (CBD 2009; DOF 2010). Del Moral-Flores et al. (2021), BioInvasions Records 10(1): 200–209, https://doi.org/10.3391/bir.2021.10.1.21 200 Record of three non-native fish species from the Alvarado Lagoon Figure 1. Alvarado Lagoon System, Veracruz State, red dot indicating the sampling station. The effect of biological invasions by aquatic species has been widely documented, but the valorization of the effect is still inconclusive (Mendoza- Alfaro and Koleff-Osorio 2014). Still, there is a crescent necessity to attend to invasive species to avoid further damage and reduce the problems caused (Koleff 2017). The previous has led to the development of several preventive actions, risk analysis studies and the emergence of regulatory frameworks for the correct evaluation of the potential risks derived from the introduction of exotic aquatic organisms into a new environment (Mendoza-Alfaro et al. 2011). In Mexico, many of the freshwater fish species have been introduced as a result of human activities. These intrusions generally cause negative effects such as the alteration of the trophic relationships in the recipient system (Martin et al. 2019), causing important long-term changes in the characteristics and dynamic of the aquatic systems (Díaz-Pardo et al. 2016). Currently, 104 species of exotic fish have been recorded in Mexico (Espinosa-Pérez and Ramírez 2015). Their introductions in combination with anthropogenic factors, such as the negligent management of aquatic ecosystems, have diminished native species populations and placed around 248 native species in the risk category (IUCN 2019). Thereupon, it is vital to keep the track of new non-native species introductions in the epicontinental ecosystems of the country. The aim of this paper is to contribute to this effort by confirming the presence of three exotic species in Alvarado Lagoon, Veracruz State, Mexico. Materials and methods The Alvarado Lagoon is located on the coast of central Veracruz State (Figure 1). It forms part of the Alvarado Lagoon System, which consists of four interconnected brackish, shallow coastal lagoons: Alvarado, Buen País, Camaronera and Tlalixcoyan, belonging to the hydrological region of Del Moral-Flores et al. (2021), BioInvasions Records 10(1): 200–209, https://doi.org/10.3391/bir.2021.10.1.21 201 Record of three non-native fish species from the Alvarado Lagoon the Papaloapan River Basin, located between the geographical coordinates 18°44′00″–18°52′15″N; 95°44′00″–95°57′00″W (Flores-Coto and Méndez- Vargas 1982; Ruiz-Fernández et al. 2014). During July 2019, fish collections were made at five points near Las Aneas locality (18°46′24.8″N; 95°46′40.9″W), one point per day, near the eastern edges of the Alvarado Lagoon. Fish were captured using two gillnets (lenght of 100 m, height of 2.5 m and mesh opening of 12.5 cm), which opereted parallel to the coast for a period of six hours during the first hours of the day. The catch was recovered by monitoring the fishing net every two hours. Species that have not been reported in previous faunal inventories were fixed in formaldehyde (10%), preserved in ethyl alcohol (70%) and deposited in the Colección Ictiológica of the Facultad de Estudios Superiores Iztacala (CIFI), UNAM (Sabaj 2019). Basic morphometric and meristic data were obtained (Table 1). The taxonomic identity of each species was corroborated with the help of specialized taxonomic keys (Bussing 1998; Armbruster and Page 2006; Miller et al. 2009). All the research pertaining to this article did not require any registration consent. Results and discussion During the study, a total of 85 specimens were collected at the five sampling points, belonging to nine species of five families. The native species found were the hardhead sea catfish Ariopsis felis (Linnaeus, 1766), estuarine sea catfish Cathorops aguadulce (Meek, 1904), common snook Centropomus undecimalis (Bloch, 1792), threadfin shad Dorosoma petenense (Günther, 1867) and blackstripe cichlid Vieja fenestrata (Günther, 1860). From the whole collection, 14 organisms belonged to four non-native species, among which are the Mexican mojarra Mayaheros urophthalmus (Günther, 1862); one specimen of the pantano cichlid, Cincelichthys pearsei (Hubbs, 1936), CIFI 1570, 155.5 cm standard length (LP); five specimens of the jaguar cichlid, Parachromis managuensis (Günther, 1867), CIFI 1571, 110.4–183.8 cm LP; and two specimens of the vermiculated sailfin catfish, Pterygoplichthys disjunctivus (Weber, 1991), CIFI 1569,142–235.5 LP (Figure 2, Table 1). Previous ichthyofaunistic studies of the area do not refer to the occurrence of these last three species (Reséndez-Medina 1973; Franco-López et al. 1996; Chávez-López et al. 2009). Since the natural distribution area of the species collected does not correspond to the Papaloapan River basin, they are considered exotic for the Alvarado Lagoon. The natural distribution of C. pearsei is in the Grijalva-Usumacinta region, in southern Mexico and northern Guatemala (Miller et al. 2009). Authorization for commercial fishing in different reservoirs in Mexico has promoted its farming and propagation, as is the case for the Dr. Belisario Domínguez “La Angostura” and Netzahualcóyotl “Malpaso” dams in Chiapas, Mexico. The species was firstly introduced to the dam “Miguel Alemán” in the middle part of the Papaloapan River. In 1968, the Tropical Del Moral-Flores et al. (2021), BioInvasions Records 10(1): 200–209, https://doi.org/10.3391/bir.2021.10.1.21 202 Record of three non-native fish species from the Alvarado Lagoon Table 1. Morphometric, meristic and individual data of the Cincelichthys pearsei, Parachromis managuensis and Pterigoplychthys disyuntivus specimens collected in the Alvarado Lagoon, Veracruz, Mexico. Specie / No. Catalog / Specimen Cincelichthys pearsei Parachromis managuensis Pterigoplychthys disyuntivus number CIFI-1570 (n = 1) CIFI-1571 (n = 5) CIFI-1569 (n = 2) Total length (mm) 224.7 144.8–227.9 187.6–310.3 Standard length (mm) 155.5 110.4–183.8 142–235.5 Head length (mm) 50.6 40.5–66.8 35.6–55.6 Upper-jaw length (mm) 14.2 16.1–24.7 Orbit diameter (mm) 11.8 8.6–11.6