RE: Killifish threat

Alan Salmon (asalmon at mat.army.defence.gov.au)
Tue, 24 Sep 1996 14:31:28 +1000

I spoke to a friend who has tried to do some reading on this subject.

Ironically, it appears that the species that ARE legal to import are the most likely cause for concern. Fundulopanchax (Aphyosemion) Gardneri are apparently, very adaptable to streams and dams within their temperature range. being an agressive fish they c
an soon dominate a water supply of similarly sized fish.

The Nothobranchius species, on the other hand, appear to do well only in very small pools (typically only a few dozen litres). In larger pools they are apparently overwhelmed by other fish (possibly because of the very small size of their fry).

He could not find any anecdotal or other evidence about the introduction of Cynolebias or other species into non-native waters.

Cheers
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> natives. I am surprised that you haven't raised the obvious ( perhaps not
> so obvious if I follow my usual tack) risk to our own " mudfish" such as
> Lepidogalaxias salamandroides ( which has it's own home page on the net)
> and Galaxias cleaveri.

Wrong habitats, too cool for most killies I would think. Wouldn't the
rain be falling at the wrong time of year? ie winter vs summer.

> Perhaps some of the others in this group have some
> capacity to aestivate too as a survival mechanism in hard times ( e.g. G.
> olidus) .

G. pusilla most likely, G. olidus not likely. Not all killies can do
this anyway and they only (?) do it as eggs don't they?

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