I believe the "Nile Perch" he referred to is Lates niloticus and not T. nilotica. L. niloticus is a voracious piscivore and has had a devastating effect on native fish (and the lentic ecosystem for that matter) in Lake Victoria.
More information can be found at the Global Invasive Species Database: http://www.issg.org/database/welcome/ On 2/20/06, [EMAIL PROTECTED] <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Nile perch, Tilapia nilotica, are raised in ponds in many parts of Latin > America. Most of the nile perch in the markets and restaurants in the > Washington, DC, area are from Costa Rican fish farms. It is my > understanding that Tilapia are vegetarians but that they reproduce rapidl= y > and may devour all available plant life quickly. In fish farms it is > important to control the populations (usually done by removing females) - > otherwise the pond will quickly fill with large numbers of very small fis= h > which do not grow. > > Robert Mowbray > -- > Tropical Forest Ecologist > Natural Resource Managment Specialist > Reston, VA > > -------------- Original message from Ashwani Vasishth <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>: > -------------- > > > From: Ashwani Vasishth > > Subject: Documentary: Darwin's Nightmare > > To: International Development News > > Cc: Environmental Ecology News > > > > I just saw this documentary, which looks at some socio-economic aspects > of the > > Nile perch industry around Lake Victoria. It seems that the perch is an > > invasive species which is said to be driving eutrophication by killing > off other > > (native) species of fish that normally would have removed plankton from > the > > lake's waters. ........... > -- Shimshon Balanson Graduate Assistant Department of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences Cleveland State University 2121 Euclid Ave. Cleveland, OH 44115 "If you hear that someone is speaking ill of you, instead of trying to defend yourself you should say: 'He obviously does not know me very well, since there are so many other faults he could have mentioned.'" ~Epictetus
