Invasive Species
Despite their popularity among anglers, some naturalists have identified peacock bass as potential pests for causing ecological imbalances in some of their introduced areas.
Peacock bass introduction in the Rosana Reservoir and upper Paraná River, both in Brazil, resulted in a 95 percent decline in native fish density and 80 percent decline in richness in only two years.
The presence of peacock bass in Panama has caused significant damage to the native fish assemblage, by eliminating seven out of 11 previously common fish species, and significantly reducing three others. Local extinctions and decrease in abundance of many species led to cascading second-order effects on zooplankton and tertiary consumer communities.
Few measures can protect native fish once peacock bass have been introduced. Reduction in native species richness in lakes with introduced peacock bass was observed in all of the Gatun-area lakes, regardless of the presence of macrophyte refugia. After initial increase in abundance, introduced peacock bass often deplete local prey and resort to cannibalism.
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