Life history strategy and population characteristics of an unexploited riverine cyprinid, Labeo capensis, in the largest impoundment in the Orange River Basin

Winker, A Henning; Weyl, Olaf L F; Booth, Anthony J; Ellender, Bruce R

Title: Life history strategy and population characteristics of an unexploited riverine cyprinid, Labeo capensis, in the largest impoundment in the Orange River Basin
Creator: Winker, A Henning, Weyl, Olaf L F, Booth, Anthony J, Ellender, Bruce R
Date: 2012
Type: text
Type: article
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/124910
Identifier: vital:35709
Identifier: https://doi.10.3377/004.047.0124
Description: Common carp (Cyprinus carpio) is one of the world’s most widely introduced and established freshwater fishes (Casal 2006). The species is considered to be one of the eight most invasive freshwater fishes (Lowe et al. 2000) and worldwide, it accounts for most of the records of successful establishments and adverse ecological effects (Casal 2006; Kulhanek et al. 2011). This invasive success suggests that feral C. carpio is equipped with a set of adaptable life history attributes that allow it to successfully colonise a wide range of habitats (Koehn 2004; Zambrano et al. 2006; Britton et al. 2007). Where feral C. carpio occurs in high densities, it is often perceived as an invasive pest species (Sivakumaran et al. 2003; Brown and Walker 2004; Koehn 2004) because it can have severe impacts on habitat heterogeneity and biodiversity by increasing water turbidity through its bottom feeding behaviour, increasing nutrient availability, decreasing benthic and macrophyte density and diversity, altering zooplankton assemblages and decreasing endemic fish abundance (Zambrano et al. 2001; Khan 2003; Kulhanek et al. 2011). Within south-east Australia, for example, C. carpio comprises the largest proportion of the ichthyobiomass in the continent’s largest river system – the Murray–Darling Basin (Gehrke et al. 1995). As a consequence, serious concerns about its threat to endemic freshwater species (Koehn 2004) have prompted several of the most recent investigations into its life history (e.g. Sivakumaran et al. 2003; Smith and Walker 2004; Brown et al. 2005). Other potential threats posed also include competition with indigenous species and the spread of diseases and parasites (Dudgeon et al. 2006). In South Africa, for example, Asian tapeworm Bothriocephalus acheilognathi is now widely distributed in seven river systems and has infected eight novel cyprinid hosts due to the translocation of infected by C. carpio from a centralized aquaculture facility (Stadtlander et al. 2011).
Format: 16 pages, pdf
Language: English
Relation: African Zoology, Winker, H., Weyl, O.L., Booth, A.J. and Ellender, B.R., 2012. Life history strategy and population characteristics of an unexploited riverine cyprinid, Labeo capensis, in the largest impoundment in the Orange River Basin. African Zoology, 47(1), pp.85-99, African Zoology volume 47 number 1 85 99 2012 1562-7020
Rights: African Zoology
Rights: Use of this resource is governed by the terms and conditions of the BioOne Complete Open Access Statement (https://bioone.org/about))

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Weyl, Olaf L F (Prof)

Booth, Anthony John (Prof)

RU Department of Ichthyology and Fisheries Science

RU South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity (SAIAB)

SDG 14. Life Below Water

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