Report on the occurrence of invasive alien fish, Cichlasoma trimaculatum (Günther, 1867) at freshwater Lake of Chennai
N Daniel, J Praveenraj, E Suresh, K Karal Marx and S Felix
A sampling was carried out at Madambakkam Freshwater Lake, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India (12°56'54.0672'' N; 79°55' 17.1012''E) to study the fish biodiversity. It was found that the lake was infested with an exotic Cichlid, Cichlasoma trimaculatum native to South America. Cichlasoma trimaculatum is a predacious invasive fish that eats any smaller fishes. The occurrence of this species was earlier reported from Rettai Eri Lake at Chennai. In spite of the earlier report, it is surprising to note that a vast population of the same has infested the natural waters of Madambakkam Lake, which is located far away from the Rettai Eri Lake. This paper records the occurrence of C. trimaculatum in the natural waters of Madambakkam Lake, Chennai and discusses its potential impact on the native aquatic biodiversity.
N Daniel, J Praveenraj, E Suresh, K Karal Marx, S Felix. Report on the occurrence of invasive alien fish, Cichlasoma trimaculatum (Günther, 1867) at freshwater Lake of Chennai. J Entomol Zool Stud 2020;8(4):2418-2420.