Check List 16(5): 1159-1164, doi: 10.15560/16.5.1159
First record of non-native platyfish, Xiphophorus maculatus (Günther, 1866) (Cyprinodontiformes, Poeciliidae), in the Jaguaribe River basin, northeastern Brazil
expand article infoTelton Pedro Anselmo Ramos, Yuri Gomes Ponce de Carvalho Rocha§, Silvia Yasmin Lustosa Costa|, José Etham de Lucena Barbosa
‡ Universidade Estadual da Paraíba, Campina Grande, Brazil§ Universidade Federal da Paraíba, João Pessoa, Brazil| Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, Brazil
Open Access
Abstract

We provide the first record of Xiphophorus maculatus (Günther, 1866) in a river basin in the northeastern Brazil. Specimens were collected in the Jaguaribe River basin, João Pessoa, Paraíba state, Brazil. Two hundred eighty-one specimens, corresponding to 143 males and 138 females of X. maculatus, were collected at nine sites along the basin, from 2017 to 2019. Specimens total length ranged from 17.5 to 26.6 mm in males and from 11.7 to 32.7 mm in females. Introduction of non-native species greatly threatens the biological diversity worldwide. When introduced into a new habitat, X. maculatus usually decreases microcrustacean, macroinvertebrate and native fish populations.

Keywords
Competition, freshwater fish, invasive species, ornamental fish