Presence and absence of non-native fish species in ...

Journal of Fish Biology (2015) doi:10.1111/jfb.12614, available online at wileyonlinelibrary.com

BRIEF COMMUNICATION Presence and absence of non-native fish species in the Wet Tropics region, Australia F. Kroon*¶†, S. Phillips‡, D. Burrows§ and A. Hogan‖ *CSIRO Ecosystem Sciences, P. O. Box 780, Atherton, Qld 4883, Australia, ‡CSIRO Land and Water, P. O. Box 780, Atherton, Qld 4883, Australia, §TropWATER - Centre for Tropical Water & Aquatic Ecosystem Research, James Cook University, Townsville, Qld 4811, Australia and ‖Alf Hogan and Associates, Yungaburra, Qld 4884, Australia (Received 21 May 2014, Accepted 17 November 2014) Distributional records of non-native fish species were identified in the Wet Tropics region, Far North Queensland, Australia, through a compilation of published records and expert knowledge. A total of 1106 records were identified comprising 346 presence and four uncertain records for at least 13 species, and 756 absence records. All current presence records consist of six species from the families Cichlidae and Poeciliidae with established self-sustaining populations in the region, probably affecting the highly diverse native fish fauna. © 2015 The Fisheries Society of the British Isles

Key words: alien species; Cichlidae; freshwater; invasive species; Poeciliidae; tropical.

The Wet Tropics region in far north Queensland, Australia, contains the greatest fish diversity of any region in Australia (Allen et al., 2003; Pusey et al., 2004). More than 130 native fish species have been recorded from its freshwater habitats, of which c. 65% are potamodromous (Wet Tropics Management Authority, 2013). The two most common families are the Melanotaeniidae (rainbowfishes) and Pseudomugilidae (blue-eyes), while Gobiidae (gobies) and Eleotridae (gudgeons) are the two most speciose families recorded in the area (Pusey & Kennard, 1996; Russell et al., 2003; Pusey et al., 2004). The area also contains at least 10 endemic species of freshwater fishes (Allen et al., 2003; Pusey et al., 2004; Welsh et al., 2014): Cairnsichthys rhombosomoides (Nichols & Raven 1928), Glossogobius bellendenensis Hoese & Allen 2009, Guyu wujalwujalensis Pusey & Kennard 2001, Hephaestus tulliensis DeVis 1884, Melanotaenia eachamensis Allen & Cross 1982, Melanotaenia utcheensis McGuigan 2001, Synclidopus hogani Johnson & Randall 2008, an undescribed Schismatogobius species, Stiphodon allen Watson 1996 and Tandanus tropicanus Welsh, Jerry & Burrows 2014. †Author to whom correspondence should be addressed. Tel.: +61 70 4753 4159; email: [email protected] ¶Present address: Australian Institute of Marine Science, PMB 3, Townsville, Qld 4810, Australia

1 © 2015 The Fisheries Society of the British Isles

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This high fish diversity is compromised by the presence of self-sustaining populations of at least six non-native species of fishes in the Wet Tropics region, including two species of Cichlidae, namely spotted tilapia Pelmatolapia mariae (Boulenger 1899) (Bradford et al., 2011) and Mozambique tilapia Oreochromis mossambicus (Peters 1852) (Russell et al., 2012), and four species of Poeciliidae, namely the guppy Poecilia reticulata Peters 1859, the plague minnow Gambusia holbrooki Girard 1859, the swordtail Xiphophorus helleri Heckel 1848 and the platy Xiphophorus maculatus (Günther 1866) (Allen et al., 2003; Webb, 2007; Burrows, 2009). In addition to these introduced species, >13 non-native fish species have also been recorded from adjacent areas (Webb, 2007). Non-native fish species have significantly changed the contemporary fish biogeography of Australia, including in the Wet Tropics region (Olden et al., 2008). The aim of this study is to map the distributional ranges for non-native fish species in the Wet Tropics region. To document locations, (1) presence records were extracted from the Fish Atlas of Northern Australia (www.jcu.edu.au/archive/actfr_old_Projects/ FishAtlas/Index.htm) and (2) presence and absence records were obtained from local and regional fish experts during a 1 day workshop. The Fish Atlas is a comprehensive dataset of presence records for fishes caught in fresh waters of most north Australian catchments. The atlas was compiled by entering data from all published (peer-reviewed and grey literature) and unpublished (obtained from relevant experts) sources available, as well as all records from four major Australian museums (Queensland, Northern Territory, Western Australia and Australian museums). It is thus considered to be the most comprehensive inventory of species presence or absence in northern Australia, including the Terrain Natural Resource Management (NRM) region. The Fish Atlas and workshop records were combined to determine the total number and locations of all non-native fish species recorded in the region. To contribute to the management of non-native species in this highly biodiverse region, spatial maps were produced with (1) presence or absence locations of all non-native fish species and (2) presence locations for the six most common non-native fish species. The administration extent of the Terrain NRM region was used as the boundary, covering an area of 22 221 km2 (Fig. 1). In Australia, NRM regions are managed by regional NRM bodies which are responsible for protecting and managing Australia’s natural resources. The Terrain NRM region encompasses most of the 8940 km2 Wet Tropics World Heritage Area (WHA). To identify river basins that contain non-native fish species, the Division I Drainage Basins of the Queensland Government (https://data.qld.gov.au/dataset/drainage-basins-queensland/) was adjusted to the management units used by the Terrain NRM body, resulting in a total of 12 river basins (Fig. 1 and Table I). To identify the land uses surrounding non-native fish locations, the most recent data of the Queensland Land Use Mapping Programme (QLUMP 2009; www.qld.gov.au/environment/land/vegetation/mapping/qlump) was used. The primary land-use categories of QLUMP 2009 were divided into (1) conservation (Conservation and natural environment) and (2) agricultural and urban (all other primary categories). ArcMap version 10.1 GIS tools and functionality were used for all processing and analytical GIS work. A total of 256 presence records were extracted from the Fish Atlas, including P. reticulata (76 records), O. mossambicus (60 records), X. maculatus (53 records), P. mariae (32 records), G. holbrooki (24 records) and X. helleri (seven records). A total of 850 additional records (90 presence, four uncertain and 756 absence) were collated during

© 2015 The Fisheries Society of the British Isles, Journal of Fish Biology 2015, doi:10.1111/jfb.12614

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N O N- N AT I V E F I S H E S I N AU S T R A L I A’ S W E T T R O P I C S

Endeavour –16°

Daintree Coral Sea

–16° Mossman

Cairns

Trinity Inlet

Barron –17°

Mulgrave

Russell

–17° Johnstone

Herbert Tully –18° Murray

N

Hinchinbrook Terrain NRM Region –18° Brisbane

0

10 20

40

km 144°

145°

145°

146°

Fig. 1. Presence ( ) and absence ( ) of at least 13 non-native fish species in the Terrain Natural Resource Management (NRM) region, Far North Queensland, Australia ( , major drainage; , protected areas; , Terrain NRM region with major catchments).


0 1 18 6 3 7 0 10 0 3 16 0 64

Conservation 0 2 21 89 16 19 21 67 5 8 27 0 275

Agricultural and urban 0 1 3 6 1 0 0 6 0 0 16 0 33

Gambusia holbrooki 0 1 6 42 3 1 0 1 0 0 15 0 69

Oreochromis mossambicus 0 1 21 22 8 7 5 22 0 2 11 0 99

Poecilia reticulata 0 0 7 9 1 11 5 19 0 0 0 0 52

Pelmatolapia mariae

Non-native fish species

*Only the section of the Endeavour River basin within the Terrain NRM region has been considered here.

Endeavour* Daintree Mossman Barron Trinity Inlet Mulgrave Russell Johnstone Tully Murray Herbert Hinchinbrook Island Total

River basins

Land use

0 0 2 5 3 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 13

Xiphophorus helleri

0 0 0 11 3 7 11 26 5 9 1 0 73

Xiphophorus maculatus

0 3 39 95 19 26 21 77 5 11 43 0 339

Total

Table I. Number of presence records of six non-native fish species with self-sustaining populations in the 12 river basins across conservation and non-conservation land uses in the Terrain Natural Resource Management (NRM) region, Queensland

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the workshop. The 90 presence records included additional records on P. reticulata (23 records), P. mariae and X. helleri (20 records each), O. mossambicus (nine records), G. holbrooki (nine records) and X. maculatus (six records). The four uncertain records comprised two P. mariae, one O. mossambicus and one goldfish Carassius auratus (L. 1758), and were not further considered. Both the Fish Atlas and workshop identified presence records of at least seven additional non-native fish species that have since been removed and shown no evidence of survival or spread in the Wet Tropics region. These records were not included in the mapping or further analyses. Two cichlids, namely the red devil cichlid Amphilophus labiatus (Günther 1864) and the jewel cichlid Hemichromis bimaculatus Gill 1862, were detected in ornamental ponds in Port Douglas in 1985 (Mossman River basin) and Cairns in 1985, 2003 and 2008–2009 (Barron River basin). A third cichlid, the midas cichlid Amphilophus citrinellus (Günther 1864), was detected at Eubenangee Swamp in the Russell River basin in 2007. Cyprinus carpio L. 1758 was detected in the Johnstone River basin in 1980 and in an ornamental pond in the Mulgrave River basin in 2000. In addition, an unidentified cyprinid was detected in a farm dam at Lake Tinaroo, Barron River basin, in 2008. Finally, various attempts have been made to stock several species of salmonid, including Salmo salar L. 1758, brown trout Salmo trutta L. 1758 and rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss (Walbaum 1792), in a number of Wet Tropics locations but none established self-sustaining populations (Burrows, 2004). Within the Terrain NRM region, non-native fishes have been recorded in all river basins except the Endeavour and Hinchinbrook Island River basins (Fig. 1 and Table I). Three river basins, namely the Daintree, Tully and Murray Rivers, had